The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles area dipped for the eleventh consecutive week, slipping 3.1 cents to $2.279 for the week ended Dec. 19.

L.A. prices are 20.7 cents higher than they were a year ago, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. L.A. had the third-highest price of the cities surveyed, behind Miami ($2.395) and Chicago ($2.294).

Statewide, prices fell 2.8 cents to $2.249 from $2.277 one week earlier, leaving them 20 cents higher than year-ago rates. New York out-priced California for the second week in a row, adding 2.3 cents to $2.366.

Texas had the lowest-priced gas of the states surveyed, at $2.159 per gallon, and the city with the cheapest gas was Houston, which gained 2.7 cents to $2.131 per gallon.