Business & Tech
Gas Prices Skyrocket After Refinery Fire
The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County is $4.013.
The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline reached the $4 mark in Los Angeles County on Friday for the first time since mid-June after huge price hikes triggered by a Northern California refinery fire expected to reduce gasoline supplies.
The Los Angeles County average price rose 5.7 cents to $4.013, surpassing the $4 mark for the first time since June 16, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.
The daily increases in Los Angeles County was the largest since May 12. There were similar overnight increases a day earlier.
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The Los Angeles County average price has risen 28 of the past 29 days and is 15.4 cents more than one week ago, 31.1 cents higher than one month ago and 24.3 cents greater than one year ago. It has risen 32.1 cents over the past 29 days, including 5.6 cents on Thursday.
"Monday night's major fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond had an immediate effect on the wholesale gasoline market on Tuesday, which caused gas prices to shoot up since then," said Jeffrey Spring of the Automobile Club of Southern California. "Southern Californians have already been experiencing increased pump prices for nearly a month due to higher oil prices and this incident has just made the increases come even more quickly."
Find out what's happening in Palos Verdesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The fire was caused by a leak at the refinery, which produces about 150,000 barrels of gasoline per day, according to The Associated Press.
"However, since that Northern California refinery is still partly operating, the impact may not be as great as what happened in February with the Cherry Point refinery fine in Washington," Spring said. "More should be known in the next few days."
Chevron spokesman Lloyd Avram told The Associated Press he did not know when the Richmond refinery could be restarted.
A fire at a BP refinery in Washington state in February left the plant out of commission until May, causing gasoline prices in the Pacific Northwest to rise about 70 cents.
—Patch editor Nicole Mooradian contributed to this report.
