Unlike the East, gas prices stay stubbornly high out West

[phantom power]

"We are seeing a tale of two coasts," says Michael Green, spokesman for AAA, which monitors pump prices. "On the West Coast, gas prices are rising steadily, while on the East Coast they are steadily decreasing."

Oil analysts blame a refinery slowdown in western states for sending retail prices in the opposite direction of wholesale costs.

In California and Oregon, the average price of regular gas has increased 20 cents a gallon so far in May, AAA reports. Average pump prices were down 19 cents in Florida and 18 cents in Virginia.

The imbalance is obscured by the national average, which has fallen to $3.72 from $3.90 a month ago, according to the auto club. California's average price of $4.37 is well above Florida's $3.59, and higher than any state except Hawaii and Alaska.

The regional price rise is not driven by increased demand, as driving has declined in western states as it has in most of the country, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-05-16/gasoline-prices-west-coast/55046682/1

[kristopher]

1. "...lack of competition at the refinery level... easy to game prices by turning off capacity"

"Our concern is a lack of competition at the refinery level in California," says Charles Langley, gasoline analyst at Utility Consumers' Action Network in San Diego. "We're not saying there's a conspiracy. It's just that with this few competitors, it's very easy to game prices by turning off capacity."
Bob van der Valk, petroleum analyst in Terry, Mont., said gasoline inventories are at a 20-year low in California for May. Supplies will return to normal, he said, but perhaps not in time for upcoming holiday travel.[/div

"We're not saying there's a conspiracy..."

[phantom power]

2. I forget, do we still have antitrust laws, or did we negotiate those away too?

[kristopher]

3. We have them...

We just don't have enough oversight and transparency in the system to penetrate the shell game prove anything.

[railsback]

4. Crude now at $92 a barrel

The last time crude reached this price in the Bush Administration, the nationwide average for a gallon of gas was around $2.80 (about 4 years ago). Somehow, these people managed to squeeze in a dollar raise for themselves and no one questions that, either. Boxer and Pelosi are usually very vocal about collusion with our refineries here in Cali. They are being unusually silent this time.

[demosincebirth]

5. A refinery slow down, huh? Another fucking excuse to gouge. I've heard about 1000 reasons why

gas prices go up.This is the 1001 reason. I wonder how many more they have in their playbook.?