California Gas Prices Force Some Station Owners to Shut Pumps
Soaring gas prices across California have forced some station owners to shut off their pumps while people change their driving habits or, in some cases, avoid driving all together.
A gallon of regular gas was $5.69 Thursday in Calabasas, while a gallon of super costs $5.89 with cash and $5.99 with credit. Such prices are causing pain at the pump for many drivers who might see an 11-cent increase by later this morning, which means some could be paying more than $6 a gallon.
The national average is up to $3.78 per gallon, but prices are topping $4 a gallon in many states. In Washington State, residents are faced with an average price of $4.03. In the Northeast, those living in New York and Connecticut are paying an average of $4.10.
No one is feeling it worse than those in California, where gas is up 45 cents from a year ago.
"It's a really terrible week for gas prices and the worst week we have ever had in October that I can remember," Marie Montgomery of the Automobile Club of Southern California said.
ABC News affiliate KABC-TV and Survey USA conducted a poll that found 47 percent of people were driving less and 17 percent were eating out less so they can afford the expensive gasoline. For the elderly on a fixed income, it's a dire situation.
"We only go out when we have to," Marilyn Sklar told KABC. "We only use the gas when we have to go and do our errands and that's it. It's a terrible situation when you're on a fixed income."
My husband works in oil and gas. They had a big interruption in their refinery system out there and the refineries have not fully recovered yet, or so they say.
Part of the reason for higher regional prices and shortages? California mandates a special mix so gasoline stores in Oregon and Nevada can't be used when a Cali refinery goes down.
I wonder if the owners of the California refineries petitioned for these regional blends to prevent competiton.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.
I wouldn't think so. I think it's the envirolobby out in California that sought the special blends. None of the suppliers is willing to incur the costs of producing those blends outside of the sole market that requires them, which is why only the refineries in California are equipped to produce them. If one State is foolish enough to impose a tax like that on itself, I suppose that's OK by me.
I wonder how many folks near the borders of the State are going across State lines to fill their tanks? You've got to think that the folks living on the Mexican border are doing it on a regular basis at these prices, or starting to if they weren't doing it before now.
PrintSmith wrote: I wouldn't think so. I think it's the envirolobby out in California that sought the special blends. None of the suppliers is willing to incur the costs of producing those blends outside of the sole market that requires them, which is why only the refineries in California are equipped to produce them. If one State is foolish enough to impose a tax like that on itself, I suppose that's OK by me.
I wonder how many folks near the borders of the State are going across State lines to fill their tanks? You've got to think that the folks living on the Mexican border are doing it on a regular basis at these prices, or starting to if they weren't doing it before now.
I was just thinking- if I were an oil company with refineries in California- or on the east coast- I would schedule "routine" maintenance on all the plants starting on Monday of next week. All refineries to be closed for maintenance until - lets say November 6 when all the maintenance operations would wrap up so they can be back in full operation on November 7.
The average price is just 12 cents below the highest recorded statewide price of $4.61, which was reached in June of 2008.
In recent weeks, California refineries have dropped production in anticipation of switching over to a "winter blend" of gasoline next month.
At the same time, a power outage at Exxon Mobil Corp's Torrance, California refinery on Monday and a shutdown of the crude distillation unit at Chevron Corp's Richmond, California refinery aggravated the tight supplies.
Phillips 66 also said a planned maintenance was underway at its 120,200 barrel-per-day (bpd) San Francisco-area Rodeo refinery.
Western U.S. refiner Tesoro Corp halted sales on Monday to retailers that do not carry its brand name, according to market sources. Tesoro declined to discuss its wholesale operations.
Finally, Chevron said a pipeline that carries crude oil from the state's Central Valley to refineries in the San Francisco Bay area has been closed since mid-September.
The national average is up to $3.78 per gallon, but prices are topping $4 a gallon in many states. In Washington State, residents are faced with an average price of $4.03. In the Northeast, those living in New York and Connecticut are paying an average of $4.10.
