Why does gas cost so much in California?

Contra Costa Times ^ | 5/16/5 | James Temple

[ArtyFO]

Kalifornia doesn't want nasty, smelly, refineries located there.

[Tacis]

The government of the People's Republic of California usee the extreme taxes on fuel as yet another method of transferring wealth from evil white Christians to the folks who truly deserve it.

[1Old Pro]

TAXES

[newgeezer]

You can drive 5 miles and see the same gas price on every corner. Doesn't matter what the company is.

Sounds like it could be simple price matching. Someone (not always the same one) leads and the others follow. For many years, it happened here. Often, the change would happen so fast -- usually overnight -- you'd almost think they had a meeting.

Then, a couple years ago, it gradually went away. Now, from one side of town to the other (about 10 miles), there might be as much as a nickel spread. I can only guess Wal-Mart and Sam's Club entering the market might have had something to do with it.

Try gasbuddy.com.

[greasepaint]

I don't like how the article used the word 'reformulated'.

California gasoline, by state law, is different.
Gasoline must meet Cal law for 'volatile organic content'.
Making it different.
On top of that, California has banned MTBE.
{or it did, will, in effect now' or some combination of that}
In areas that need 'oxygenated gas' to meet
Fedreal law in designated 'smog areas',
mtbe is the prefered oxygenate.
If mtbe is banned, alcohol is the next choice,
but the 'gasoline
blendstock' asociated with alcohol
is more difficult to make.

[codercpc]

That's one of the problems in Wisconsin (along with high taxes that automatically go up every April).

We are paying between $2.25 and $2.35 here in Wisconsin, and last week when we went to Minnesota as soon as we crossed the border, the price fell to around $1.87 a gallon.

[mc5cents]

Evian: $10.32/gal
My tap: $.00256/gal (2.56 per 1,000 gals)

I report, you decide.

If the consumer is willing to pay $10.32/gal for water well, that's called capitalism I suppose.

[SierraWasp]

It's the LAW!!! And your danged lawmakers with help from lobbyists and litiguous lawyers from the EnvironMental Comyoonutty have made it happen while you were at work!!!

[Grendel9]

Well, sure, the refinery problem is a big factor. But
we don't have refineries here in Illinois either.

The title of this article is "WHY?" so high in California! I can't believe Californians are that dull-witted! You've repeatedly elected those Democrats (Boxer/Feinstein/et al)who insist upon taxing you out of your own homes to support all those give-away programs for the illegals and
indigents who have flocked into your state for years because of all the benefits California provides for
them and their kids. You said you'd pay for all those
freebies!

So stop belly-aching when you go to the gas pump!
Take a look at the TAX added onto the base price!

[Nathan Zachary]

"In turn, the inhalation cancer risk dropped 46 percent from 1995 to 2002, according to a report by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District."

But... But... I thought cigarette smoke causes cancer! Does this mean that other things cause cancer, but cigarette smoke is blamed for all lung cancer cases? What is the break down for gasoline caused cancers and cigarette smoke cancers?

[SF Republican]

I do not think it is expensive, relative to other items, housing for example. When I started driving in 1975 it was 99 cents a gallon, now about 150% higher at $2.50, you could buy a house in Sausalito, Marin County, view of SF, Golden Gate Bridge for $40,000. now that same house is $1million easy a 2500% increase, wages for my job (my dad did the same as I) was closer to $25,000 a year, now $75,000 a 300% increase. I do not feel gas is too expensive at all, it is just the libs crying because "all of Bushes cronies" are putting it to us.

[Nathan Zachary]

Don't feel bad. cross the Northern border and you'll be paying $2.63(usd) a us gallon, or $3.39 for an imperial gallon.
But that's not so bad, in the UK gas costs $6.36 a us gallon.
Ouch!

[Malsua]

My comparrison is valid for the production cost/profit margin comparrison of the two products

No, it's not, not by a longshot. The US consumes about 20 million barrels of gasoline per day. That's 840,000,000 gallons or 6,720,000,000. Get back to me when Evian sells almost 7 billion bottles per day. The cost of water would plunge to pennies, just like it is for any industrial consumer of water, aside from specific distilled/De-ionized grades.

If you compared Municipal Water systems to Gasoline, you might have a closer comparison. Municipal water generally costs about a penny per gallon. Both pumped from Resevoirs, both delivered to you in bulk lots, at .01 per gallon VS $2.10 per gallon, Gasoline is indeed expensive.

[Osage Orange]

We are paying between $2.25 and $2.35 here in Wisconsin

Wow...I had no idea...cheese heads paid so much for gasoline.

Us ignert Okies...are paying about $1.88 right now....but of course the esteemed political rascals of our fair state....want to tax us more on each gallon as we speak. They say...we are getting too good a deal. Deal my rear..!!

FWIW-

[codercpc]

I don't feel too bad. In fact I am kind of surprised I even read this thread. To tell the truth, gas price has never gotten me too much in a bundle (Heck I even drive a SUV). I figure it's just another bill. And I truly don't think that gas is too expensive when compared to other things. The only thing that bugs me is the taxes we pay on it, especially compared with our neighbors to the West in Minnesota.

[Michael.SF.]

My original post was meant to be tonque-in-cheek and some of you have seemed to have taken it too literally.

The real fact of the matter is the cost of infrastructure to produce bottled water is minuscule compared to the costs of:

Finding an oil deposit
Drilling a well
drilling a well which actually produces oil
paying royalties to the land owner
transportation of the oil to the refinery
building a refinery
operation costs
bringing that oil to market
taxes
etc. etc. etc.

The fact of the matter is a gallon of gasoline is still a relatively good value.

[codercpc]

Our price can be placed directly on two factors, the tax added to each gallon, which goes up each year automatically every year. And the reformulations that are mandated in our state. I think that we had 18 different blends at last count.

[hosepipe]

[ Why does gas cost so much in California? ]

Easy really...
Mexifornia has the highest per capita percentage of MoonBats than any State..
MoonBats are parasites.... ON EACH OTHER..
And Taxes are political and economic parasitism..

[Nathan Zachary]

I don't think it's too bad either compared to when the average European pays. They tax gas worse than Canadians do! That's the cost of socialism I guess. Just wait till that gas taxing temptation catches on here. We have had it fairly good in the US as far as cheap gas goes, but with the rapidly rising costs of giving free health care to millions of illegal aliens, the money is going to have to come from taxes in one form or another, plus the screaming from enviroweinies to find other fuels, (which means funding development)will drive the price up sooner or later.

[norraad]

Excellent analogy, I see it as;

FISH, BARREL, SMOKING GUN !

I get a kick out of article statements like;

"Oooh hoo hoo, they made us use (cheaper) ethanol instead of (more expensive) MTBE."