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The thing that really pisses me off, is that California had the reformulated fuel years ago which was more expensive, and when they discovered that the MBTE formulation was depositing carcinogens in the region's watershed, they discontinued it. But never dropped the higher prices to what the normal fuel was being sold for elsewhere.
The other thing that irritates me, is that California is one of the leading producers and exporters of oil/fuel and we still get jacked around whenever there's a crisis, like heating oil shortage, hurricane, mysterious refinery fire, etc...
Why are California Gasoline Prices more Variable Than others?
California prices are higher and more variable than prices in other States because there are relatively few supply sources of its unique blend of gasoline outside the State. The State of California's reformulated gasoline program is more stringent than the Federal government's. In addition to the higher cost of this cleaner fuel, there is a State sales tax of 7.25 percent on top of an 18.4 cent-per-gallon Federal excise tax and an 18.0 cent-per-gallon State excise tax.
California refineries need to be running near full capacity to meet the State's gasoline demand. If more than one of its refineries experiences operating problems at the same time, California's gasoline supply may become very tight and prices can soar. Even when supplies can be obtained from some Gulf Coast and foreign refineries, they can take a relatively long time to arrive due to California's substantial distance from those sources. The farther away the necessary relief supplies are, the higher and longer the price spike will be.