napacruzerc5

Gas prices in Napa up 20-25 cents a gallon. And I expect it to go up more. I know the refineries shut down by Harvey provide 8-9% of nationwide gas supply but why should Bay Area gas go up especially since our gas is specifically formulated to CARB standards and is not sold nationwide. Wife says total greed

tlove32

Wife is right...it is total greed

craig-o

My brother works for Shell, and I've asked this question before; you wont like the answer... It's basically supply and demand, but with a significant wrinkle where Californians always get screwed.

California is a virtual island when it comes to refined gasoline. California has its own formulation specifically designed to reduce emissions. What that means from a distribution standpoint is the retailers can only sell gasoline refined in California in California. However, California-formula gasoline CAN be sold in other states. So when there's a national shortage, CA-refined gasoline gets "exported" to address the national shortage, artificially creating a shortage in California, as well. Supply goes down, and even without an increase in demand within California, the price goes up.

But here's the wrinkle: fuel refined in neighboring states cannot be imported and sold in California if we have a local situation or disaster that creates a shortage within California. So, if something happens at a California refinery, causing a shortage of CA-formula fuel, the refiners cannot increase supply by "importing" supplies. The amount of time it would take for a refinery to change over to a CA-formulation would mean months of down-time and lost revenue, so California is stuck with reduced supply. Again, even with demand staying constant, reduced supply drives the price up.

Thank the legislators and California Air Resources Board for the unique formulation here in California.