Gas Jumps To Over $4 per Gallon In Cali

Discussion in 'Politics' started by pspr, Oct 4, 2012.

  1. pspr

    pspr

    Gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area including Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) are beginning to shut pumps because of supply shortages that have driven wholesale fuel prices to record highs.

    Costco’s outlet in Simi Valley, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, ran out of regular gasoline yesterday and was selling premium fuel at the price of regular, Jeff Cole, Costco’s vice president of gasoline, said by telephone. The company hasn’t been able to find enough unbranded summer-grade gasoline to keep its stations supplied, he said.

    The gasoline shortage “feels like a hurricane to me, but it’s the West Coast,” Cole said yesterday. “We’re obviously extremely disheartened that we are unable to do this, and we’re pulling fuel from all corners of California to fix this.”

    Spot, or wholesale, gasoline in Los Angeles climbed 30 cents to $1.45 a gallon over gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the highest level for the fuel since at least November 2007, when Bloomberg began publishing prices there. The premium has surged $1 this week. On an outright basis, the fuel jumped to $4.3396 a gallon.

    Prices Jump

    Gasoline at the pump gained 8.3 cents to $4.315 a gallon in California yesterday, according to AAA.com, 53.1 cents more than the national average of $3.784. In Los Angeles the price was $4.347. Gasoline futures for November delivery on the Nymex rose 11.15 cents to $2.911 a gallon at 1:35 p.m. today, after falling yesterday to a 10-week low. Retail price movements tend to lag behind those of futures.

    Low-P, a gasoline station in Calabasas, California, 30 miles west of Los Angeles, stopped selling unleaded gasoline Oct. 2 and ran out of high-octane and medium-octane fuel yesterday, John Ravi, the station’s owner, said by phone yesterday. Ravi said he posted an “Out of Gasoline” sign on each pump and took down the prices outside his shop.

    “I can get gas, but it’s going to cost me $4.90 a gallon, and I can’t sell it here for $5,” Ravi said. “If you come here right now, I’ve got some diesel left. That’s all. My market is open, but no gas.”


    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...begin-to-shut-on-record-high-spot-prices.html
     
  2. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    Is this is typo? It's been over $4 for a while now.
     
  3. pspr

    pspr

    Maybe my headline didn't say it properly. Gas is spiking from the low $4 area to the mid $4 area and higher. Here is a chart showing what I mean. They are having a serious refinery issue there.

    http://www.californiagasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx
     
  4. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    Ah, gotcha. Yep.
     
  5. It was 4.98 or so 18 months ago or so.