Gas prices are going up for second week in a row in California
The national average went up for the second week in a row to over $3.80 per gallon, as California's gas prices are going to go up for the second straight week.
The average price for a gallon of gas in California was $6.41 on Tuesday, about $0.03 short of the record set in June, according to AAA. The average price for a gallon of gas in Los Angeles County was $6.46 compared to the national average of $3.81.
The West Coast is the epicenter of the biggest increase, according to GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan, the epicenter of the biggest increase, according to the video above from Yahoo Finance Live. California prices are retesting their 2022 highs. Other states on the West Coast — Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Nevada — all recorded big jumps in the past week.
In some instances, stations have gone up $1 a gallon in the last few weeks, not only in the West Coast but in the areas of the Great Lakes, where prices are up $0.50 a gallon in the last few weeks, De Haan said. As hurricane Ian battered the southeast region of the U.S. and threatens to limit gas distribution due to a lack of electricity and flooded roads and highways, supply may be restricted nationally, according to AAA.
The rapid increase in gas prices in California is due to the huge number of refinery disruptions, according to De Haan. He said that combining that with the unplanned shutdowns has caused a huge crimp on gasoline supply, and it's normal for refineries to do maintenance this time of the year. California's Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed oil companies for the current predicament. In a video on Twitter, he said last week that oil companies continue to hike prices and provide no explanation as to why.
Newsom asked state lawmakers to introduce a windfall tax that would cap oil companies profits, tax at a higher rate if earnings above that ceiling, and return the money to taxpayers via rebates. He also directed the state's air regulators to allow refineries to begin producing winter-blend gasoline immediately instead of waiting for Oct. 31 as required by law.
California's strict energy policies could be a part of the problem, according to De Haan, who said that refineries across the U.S. are unable to ship gasoline to California in a way that meets its energy standards.
He said that the problem with California is the fragmentation. It's all alone when it comes to having stringent requirements. They are all on their own when things don't go well when things don't go well.