High Gas Prices in California Have Drivers Scrambling

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Saturday, October 06, 2012

High Gas Prices in California Have Drivers Scrambling

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

Drivers in Southern California awoke Friday to find that their gasoline prices had spiked by nearly 20 cents a gallon overnight as a result of fuel shortages caused by a series of refinery disruptions in recent weeks.

Some gas stations around the Los Angeles area were forced to shut off their pumps because of rationing by suppliers, and they displayed makeshift signs explaining that the shortages were not their fault. Drivers formed long lines at stations that did have gas, with some stations raising prices to more than $5 a gallon for regular gasoline.

“What are they doing to us?” said Marilyn Tucker, a FedEx employee, as she stopped pumping at a central Los Angeles gas station at $37, well before the tank of her sedan was full. “It’s just ridiculous.”

Prices had been rising for several days, making California the most expensive state for gasoline. On Friday, Californians paid an average of $4.49 a gallon for regular — 70 cents above the national average. Nationally, gas prices have risen less than half a penny a gallon over the last week, with prices now easing in many states.

Supplies of refined petroleum products on the West Coast are now at their lowest levels since 2008, while national inventories are about normal.

The immediate cause of the California price rise was a power failure at Exxon Mobil’s Torrance, Calif., refinery on Monday that shut down some production units at the 150,000-barrel-a-day facility. The company on Friday said the refinery had resumed normal operations. Supplies on the West Coast had already been tight because of an Aug. 6 fire at Chevron’s 245,000-barrel-a-day Richmond, Calif., refinery, which has still not been restored to full production.

California typically has substantially higher gasoline prices than most of the country because of its tough environmental regulations and high taxes. Gasoline supplies are traditionally tight this time of year as refiners do maintenance work to switch from summer to fall gasoline blends mandated by the California pollution-reduction regulations. But this year, energy experts say, the local gasoline market is particularly chaotic because of the refinery shutdowns.

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