US West Coast Hits Record Low Gas Supply, Prices Skyrocket

US West Coast Hits Record Low Gas Supply, Prices Skyrocket

Disaster on gas supplies are here again.  The lowest May gasoline supplies in the Western U.S. in 20 years have prices skyrocketing again in most places west of the Rocky Mountains. In California, pump prices for regular gas have jumped 13.5 cents since last week.

Refinery problems are seen as the culprit for the new spike in fuel costs. The state once had as many as 15 refineries, but recently, the number dropped to 12. Now, one-third of those refineries have been temporarily shut down.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in California is $4.345, up from $4.210 a week ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. In Washington, the average price for a gallon of regular has climbed 12.7 cents to $4.201 a gallon since last week. In Oregon, a gallon of regular has jumped 15.6 cents to $4.169 during the same period.

The problem is reflected in the Energy Department's statistics on the nation's gasoline supplies. The report breaks the U.S. into five regions, referred to as PADDs or Petroleum Administration for Defense District.

California, with its huge number of motorists, accounts for most of PADD 5, which also includes Washington, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska, Arizona, and Hawaii. The most recent statistics show the region with 26.13 million barrels of fuel on tap;  the lowest amount for the month of May since 1992, according to the Energy Department records.

Analysts differed over whether the supply problems and the West Coast price spike were only temporary. They thought the price rise would end in "weeks, not months." Others weren't so sure.

Charles Langley, a gasoline analyst with the San Diego-based Utility Consumers' Action Network, said the current California fuel prices were the perverse result of refinery system that allows prices to rise even when oil prices are dropping and fuel demand is down.

Posted by James Fried on Tuesday May 15 2012, 5:03 AM EST. Ref: Reuters. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Nation. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0