Gas prices up sharply in California due to 'maintenance and repairs' [View all]
Source: San Jose Mercury News
This week came as a painful surprise to anyone filling up with gas.
Prices have soared by as much as 16 cents a gallon at some Bay Area stations since Monday, as several refiners in California have reduced production for maintenance and repairs. It's a West Coast-only trend, as prices nationally continue to ease, with crude oil prices on Friday falling below $100 a barrel for the first time since early February.
"BP, Tesoro, Shell and ConocoPhillips all have refining units shut for extended maintenance or repairs," said Brian Milne, an analyst at commodity tracker Telvent DTN. "California's processing rate compared with refining capacity is in the 70 percent range as a result, which is very low. Compares with mid-80 percent range nationally."
... The state average stood at $4.19 a gallon on Friday. While that's just a two-cent increase from Thursday, it doesn't reflect the biggest increases that hit Friday.
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ci_20550646/gas-prices-rise-bay-area
= new reply since forum marked as read
