Big Pumpin': Gas Prices Shoot Up Over Past Two Days (sales, real estate)

[steel7]

The comments about the article say it all. We always get screwed in ca & the oil companies are as usual raking in billions. Its sickening.
http://lakeforest-ca.patch.com/artic...-past-two-days

[leonard]

Strange they have been going down here in TN.

[steel7]

One of the reasons gas is spiking in ca is due to refinery issues which i strongly dont believe. I believe its just greedy pukes getting as much money as they can from ca residents & visitors.

[Fargobound]

This has nothing to do with oil companies so blame the political climate in your state with your special gas blends and CARB overlords.

I'd love nothing more than to see oil rigs off the coast California

[BlackShoe]

Have had the same thoughts. With crude oil prices now under $100 a barrel and dropping, why the bleep are gas prices at least a dime higher than they were last week? To further rub it in, pump prices in the rest of the country have come down.

[.highnlite]

America's largest export these days, refined gasoline... going to South America and China I suppose.

[user_id]

Given the number of SUVs, large trucks, etc on the streets gas is still way to cheap. California should ditch talk about increasing sales and income taxes and instead increase fuel taxes.

[nullgeo]

The largest factor in increasing prices for a the past few years have been financial speculators ... You know, the same type of wonderful folks who brought you the real estate bubble -- and subsequent crashed economy while enormously enriching themselves.

That said, much as I don't generally care to find myself in agreement with user id, um, burning fossil fuels is stupid and destructive and should be taxed even higher ... Great example of sin tax put to good application.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by Fargobound

This has nothing to do with oil companies so blame the political climate in your state with your special gas blends and CARB overlords.

I'd love nothing more than to see oil rigs off the coast California

Special blend in California is the supposed reason for the price jump. From the GAO:

For example, California’s high gasoline price—the highest in the country—has been partly attributed to its unique blend of gasoline. Areas that use special-blend gasoline are also more susceptible to price spikes because such requirements have made gasoline less fungible across geographic markets. In other words, because of the requirements for special gasoline blends in certain markets, refiners have limited flexibility to ship gasoline from a surplus market to a market that may be experiencing a deficit and hence price spikes
due to a supply disruption.


http://www.gao.gov/assets/250/246501.pdf

[user_id]

Originally Posted by nullgeo

The largest factor in increasing prices for a the past few years have been financial speculators ... You know, the same type of wonderful folks who brought you the real estate bubble --

Financial speculators didn't create the estate bubble, rather the aggregate behavior of Joe Six Pack. The financial sector just supplied the lube...I know you like to blame wall street, etc for everything, but nobody has a clear idea how speculators effect the spot prices of oil. The current prices could very well be fundamentally driven...