Gas Prices in California rise with refinery problems

HowardZ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 5, 1999
Location
m
My sister emailed this to me:

Gas Prices in California Rise for Labor Day Weekend as Supply Dwindles Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Publication date: 2000-09-02
Sep. 2--With refinery shutdowns once again getting the blame, gasoline and diesel prices have soared, sending diesel over $2 per gallon at some stations this Labor Day weekend. Prices for unleaded regular, below $1.60 a week ago at some area stations, have risen significantly since then -- to $1.80 at the HCD Arco on Golden State Boulevard in Turlock and $1.89 at the USA on Oakdale Road in Modesto.

And diesel prices have climbed 50 cents over the past month, causing truckers to tack surcharges on to their freight fees.

"The latest hikes are attributed to heavy summer demand and refinery problems," said Dick Vine of E.R. Vine Distributing in Ceres. "But there's no quick answer."

The supply problems, he said, are caused in part because the refineries struggle to meet the demand when they are operating at capacity, let alone when some of them are down.

Daniel Lancaster, dispatcher at CL Bryant Distributing in Modesto, said two Tosco refineries were down at the same time Arco, Shell and Texaco plants had problems.

As a consequence, the diesel supply tanks that local distributors d raw from in Sacramento, Stockton, Chico and Fresno went empty for three straight days last month. And a distribution point in Richmond -- home to many refineries -- was empty for a day.

"Even though one of Tosco's is back on line, it still takes about two weeks (to begin producing)," Lancaster said.

The West Coast average for diesel climbed to $1.77 Friday, and California averages $1.85, said John Casey, head dispatcher for Clawson Trucking Co. in Ceres. The national average is $1.54, he said.

The increases, he said, will add $24.12 cents to the cost of a trip from Ceres to Phoenix.
 

dparnell

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 14, 1999
Location
Herron Island, WA
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
Thanks for the article z---still spreading gloom and doom
?
That's REALLY bad news for me---I usually do my bulk buy in Sept/Oct when prices are the lowest. The only good news is that I still have 2-300 gallons of diesel @$.97 and 200 or so gallons of gasoline @$1.37. I can hold on for a few months except I don't like to have a fuel truck come down our 2 1/2 mile road after the rains begin---it tears the road up.

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[This message has been edited by dparnell (edited September 06, 2000).]
 

SlowSpeed

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 9, 1999
Location
Long Beach, CA, USA
So that "explains" it...

I posted in another thread how shocked I was to pay $1.999 for my first tank of fuel in California, after $1.319 in Houston.

I've now found prices from $1.859~$2.059 (Long Beach)!

This DOES remind me of 1975, though. Friends of mine called home to tell their wives that their tankship was leaving its load port and that they would be in New York in four days. They got to New York and were told to steam "in circles". After about two weeks, when the price of fuel was at a "favourable" price, the order came to bring it on in to the dock. How very convenient.
 
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