more articles like this

Gas Prices
updated: Oct 03, 2012, 4:18 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

I got gas on Saturday at the Mesa gas station, $4.15 a gallon. Today it's $4.55. Did I miss an asteroid hitting the planet? 40 cents up in 4 days is crazy!

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 327450	2012-10-03 04:21 PM
No kidding man! I just saw on the news that gas was down yet it was .20 more today than when I filled up 2 weeks ago. Absolutely ridiculous.
COMMENT 327454	2012-10-03 04:26 PM
It's Presidential election time again. Happens every four years.
COMMENT 327462	2012-10-03 04:32 PM
.... Waiting for Right-wing rant about how this is surely all Obama's fault....
COMMENT 327464	2012-10-03 04:33 PM
Fire at a refinery in Texas. Any reason to jack the consumer they do it.
COMMENT 327465P	2012-10-03 04:37 PM
Don't go near the chevron by Kmart. They have always had high prices, but they will level you if you find yourself needing gas and unfamiliar with the area. The Mobile at the north bound exit is high too.
EDHATBARBARA	2012-10-03 04:46 PM
It's happening all over -- Carpinteria, Ventura, too.
COMMENT 327484	2012-10-03 04:52 PM
The perfect racket: 1. Don't invest in capital improvements at your refineries--pocket the money as profit instead. 2. When your now-100 year old antique refinery explodes, charge consumers higher prices. Even in disaster, you make more money. 3. Throw a few ads on TV about how "green" you are. Genius.
COMMENT 327491	2012-10-03 04:56 PM
A couple of refineries went up in smoke this year.... not just in Texas but one up in the Benicia area. News reports made mention of low inventories. Those oil cartels sure know how to milk the supply side game in economics.
COMMENT 327494	2012-10-03 04:58 PM
That's what you get when you demand that California use a special blend of gasoline. Good job, do good ers!
COMMENT 327495	2012-10-03 05:00 PM
I was in AZ last week -- $3.55/gal. Is it true that SB pays the most for gas because of the oil industry's retaliation for the local founding of GOO (Get Oil Out) in response to the 1969 oil spill? That's something I've heard often repeated but can't remember from whom or whether it's since been debunked.
COMMENT 327504	2012-10-03 05:18 PM
Yeah, 494, it's terrible that we are trying to do whatever we can to minimize our impact on the environment! Screw the Earth, we'll just find another planet when we ruin it!
COMMENT 327508	2012-10-03 05:22 PM
Put solar panels on your government subsidized car, and quit the whining. You all voted for these people...
REXOFSB	2012-10-03 05:24 PM
@495: I'm a native Santa Barbaran and have been buying gas for decades. Local gas prices were traditionally a couple of cents more here until the '69 oil spill. After the ensuing outrage and fury directed by the locals against the oil companies, gas prices went WAY up here and have stayed that way ever since. I'll buy the argument that gas prices must be higher here because of the high cost of the property the gas stations are located on--but not to the extent that it warrants sometimes huge price discrepancies with neighboring communities. I also think it's interesting that gas is always way cheaper in Lompoc, despite the fact that gasoline tanker trucks have to go further to Lompoc than to SB. Is Santa Barbara being punished by the oil companies? Without question! I've also got to agree with @494 about the expensive bogus "special blend" that is foisted off on Californians every summer.
COMMENT 327510	2012-10-03 05:26 PM
504 - Yeah, good job there with the MTBE. Really thought that one through.
COMMENT 327530	2012-10-03 05:55 PM
@494 I agree with you. Although higher prices have never failed to lead to higher profits at the oil companies, I still believe the oil companies when they tell me that these higher prices are not their fault. Even though they admit that they make more money when prices are high. Even though...I'm not smart enough to think for myself.
COMMENT 327532	2012-10-03 05:59 PM
On January 20, 2009 Gas was $1.86 per gallon. Today I paid $4.39. On January 20, 2009 the national debt was $6 trillion less than it is today. On January 20, 2009 the unemployment rate, counting discouraged workers, was 12%. Today it's 14%. The debates begin in one minute.
COMMENT 327540	2012-10-03 06:27 PM
I'm a long-time Republican who salutes President Jimmy Carter for laying out a roadmap during his famous "malaise" speech of 1979 that would have created an energy-independent America with what I called at the time "a diversified energy portfolio" that would have satisfied "Drill-Baby-Drillers" and "No-Growth Environmentalists" alike. But no, a lily-livered Congress refused to act with recalcitrance coming from BOTH parties. Shame on them - and their counterparts during the intervening 33 years!! Now, voters, INSIST that Congress and the next President, be it Obama or Romney, resurrect the old Carter Plan (or a modern, modified version of it) and finally do what's right for ourselves and our posterity!
COMMENT 327543	2012-10-03 06:57 PM
@RexofSB so if the oil companies are still punishing for the actions of those a couple of generations ago, do we have any recourse? I mean, this is pure bullying and it's hostile and absurd. Gasoline pricing is obviously elastic, implying something can be done to correct this.
COMMENT 327544	2012-10-03 07:08 PM
495, everything is cheaper in AZ, because to live there is like living in hell. I was there for 15 years. Ever been to Hawaii?
COMMENT 327545P	2012-10-03 07:14 PM
For starters, allow Costco to sell gas at the Goleta store, as they do in Oxnard.
REXOFSB	2012-10-03 07:29 PM
@543: Since gas prices are completely at the whim of the oil companies, I don't think there is a thing anyone can do about price gouging in SB. There has been talk from time to time about Congressional investigations of the situation, since gas prices here are undeniably higher than anywhere else, but to my knowledge nothing has ever been done about it. What I surmise happened was that SB was punished by the oil companies for being outraged by the 1969 oil spill, so they dramatically jacked up local gas prices. Then when Unocal, etc., found out that they could get away with it, they simply kept the prices overly inflated, and it's been like that ever since. So, yes, I think that our high gas prices were initially triggered by the oil spill, and have been kept higher than anywhere else because the oil companies know they can. Mind you, this is all just supposition. But I know I'm right. And for what it's worth, this is the only conspiracy theory I ascribe to.
COMMENT 327553	2012-10-03 07:39 PM
The high gas prices have NOTHING to do with Obama for goodness sake!!! The right wingers are nuts to say the least. As Madeline Albright said recently in response to the question 'How long will you blame the previous administration for all of your problems?'" Her response was......"Forever." Forever? Yep, that's what she done did sez. "Forever." Quite an argument I'd say for close-minded folks. Namaste. Let's Coexist. Let's continue on our current path....Fast and Furious....Wuzz that Eric??? Y'all better hope that sequestration does not take place. Talk about reaching across the aisle to bridge gaps.
COMMENT 327559	2012-10-03 07:57 PM
495 355 a gal. and what was the temperature?
COMMENT 327564	2012-10-03 08:22 PM
3.55 a gallon in AZ. Maybe true but with 120 deg temps, you are just pumping fumes in the car. You don't get as much gas in the car when its that hot.
SEEDLADY	2012-10-03 08:37 PM
tip: use gasbuddy.com to find the cheapest daily local prices. And report what you find!
COMMENT 327607P	2012-10-04 01:58 AM
504: You get my vote. This is such a fun thread to read. Here's some free advice for you all: Give up use of your vehicles for at least two days per week. Okay, now----don't get all defensive and huffy about it. Think it over, and then just do it. As someone who could easily plunk down $40,000 (or more) ----cash----for a shiny new vehicle, I decided, instead, to go car-free for one year. 14 months later, and I am still walking, riding my bike, using MTD. It is such a different world, when you are not a slave to your gas-guzzler. The benefits are endless. You get more exercise, you meet more nice people. No auto insurance, no car payments, no DMV registration, no repair bills, no smog checks or worrying about gasoline prices. Just imagine not worrying about buying new tires or about some uninsured driver hitting your vehicle. No hassle of trying to find parking. Best of all, you are much better able to see how absolutely crazy this car-obsession has made all of us. So much anger and angst and isolation. It really is insane and unnatural. Even if you can only go car-less two or three days a week, I guarantee it will make you a healthier, happier individual.
COMMENT 327613P	2012-10-04 05:40 AM
@607P: You present a good point, but the question at hand is specifically why gas costs so much more in Santa Barbara.
COMMENT 327615	2012-10-04 06:17 AM
I just bought an car that uses both an electric motor and gas. Solved the need to pay for gas as often.
COMMENT 327616	2012-10-04 06:29 AM
I thought it was all the local taxes that push our gas price up
COMMENT 327619P	2012-10-04 06:50 AM
It's a combination of supply/demand, local politics, taxes, and priorities....just like always. Gas has always been high in California in general and specifically in Santa Barbara. The price spike you saw at your favorite station may have been due to a specific cost center incurred at that station only, if it was not reflected in neighboring stations. If you want to see lower gas prices, open or at least threaten to unleash new production across the country and Canada. Works every time it's been implemented. Actually doing "it" would lower prices on fuel much more than just the threat, and would deliver a one-two punch to our Mideast enemies that they would not recover from. Alternatives like solar and wind are a fantasy that any energy expert will tell you straight up could not even begin to tackle 1percent of our energy demand and would cost us everything we have gained over the last 100 years. It's a pipe dream. Sorry politicos, just sobering reality from an engineer and energy scientist. No, we will not run out of oil in our lifetimes or our children's lifetimes. That is a political fantasy used to try and scare people. Nuclear energy is safer and cleaner than burning fossil fuels and is our only hope for the next century as soon as we embrace it. But what do I know, I am only an expert in the field of energy production/consumption and have studied it for over 30years.
COMMENT 327625	2012-10-04 07:04 AM
619P - +1.
COMMENT 327627	2012-10-04 07:24 AM
327564 - The temperature of gas in an underground storage tank in AZ is not much higher than that in a similarly burried tank here in SB. Even if the gas is 60 degrees warmer, it will affect the density by less than a percent.
COMMENT 327634	2012-10-04 07:37 AM
Two things seem to be driving gas prices. One is CARB setting unrealistic regulations on the refineries that discourages anyone from wanting to build another one to help us out. The people that hate cars are glad to see this happening. The other is speculators betting on the price of oil in the markets and driving the price up so it has nothing to do with demand any more. We could fix the first by insisting that our legislators relax the environmental regulations that keep people from building new refineries until alternative transportation networks are available to everyone. We can fix the second by increasing the margin requirements for speculators or adding a tax to each bet that is placed on oil, or restricting the market to people that actually have the capacity to store and process the oil that they are investing in. What are the chances of these sensible things happening? Slim to none.
COMMENT 327645	2012-10-04 08:14 AM
@Dan39, 559, & 564 The temperature last week in AZ was the same as here (mid 90s). It was gorgeous. But this is the priceless part: I did not see one driver talking on a cell phone. People were polite, kind, and greeted me and said "Hello" and "Good morning." I can't remember the last time I heard those greetings here from anyone other than someone whose job required it. When I lived downtown in SB quite a while ago and frequented the same lower State St. coffeehouse every day, no one ever recognized me even though I lived in the neighborhood -- and I'm from here! So cheaper gas, polite people, no fog. After 35+ years I'm outta here. With all of the bad young/old/SUV/cell phone talking drivers here, I'm not getting on a bike. Without "perfect" weather, affordable housing, or polite people SB isn't worth it anymore. High gas prices cinch it.
RHS	2012-10-04 08:52 AM
The price of gas in Rhode Island and Boston a couple of weeks ago was the same as in SB and therefore more expensive than in other parts of CA. The price of gas is set by the oil companies ability to get what they ask. It has almost nothing to do with government policy. These companies are making record profits because that is the nature of the 'free market' if We the People don't step in and regulate their behavior.
FLICKA	2012-10-04 08:56 AM
With prices high maybe people will drive less, a real benefit to the freeway and air quality. If the commuters would car pool and share gas cost it would make a BIG difference in the traffic jams.
COMMENT 327668	2012-10-04 09:13 AM
FLICKA - The more important effect of high gas prices is that they disproportionately affect our neighbors in the lower socio-economic ranks. A doubling of prices during the past several years has taken a big bite out of the purchasing power of our most needful class of workers/citizens. My post above at #540 provides a realistic, workable solution where it references the "Carter Plan" for energy independence espoused in 1979. Please write our representatives and INSIST they are now 33 years overdue with partisan bickering and dithering. The time to act is now for the benefit of ourselves and our posterity.
COMMENT 327669	2012-10-04 09:13 AM
@327532 The gas price was so low in January of 2009 because the previous administration had destroyed the economy. Earlier in that administration the gas price was higher than it ever has been during this administration. Your national debt and unemployment figures are inaccurate, but in both cases the numbers reflect the ensuing damages from said destruction of the economy and from two unfunded wars, a massive tax cut to the rich, and an unfunded drug program. Employment has been on a steady rise since two months into the current administration. Looking at historical graphs rather than cherry picking dates, the country always does much better under the current party.
COMMENT 327678	2012-10-04 09:34 AM
Nothing so dramatic. The billions pouring in during the summer and up to Labor day weekend from vacation and pleasure traveling on top of the regular necessary driving, start to diminish sharply about now so the oil companies have to do something to keep up that revenue stream. Ergo, jack the prices up. What choice do motorists really have, most of whom are driving out of necessity.
COMMENT 327684	2012-10-04 09:47 AM
@327532 - Where in this country did you get gas for $1.86 per gallon in 2009? It certainly was not in Santa Barabara. I haven't seen it that low in over 10 years.
COMMENT 327688	2012-10-04 10:02 AM
684 - It was under $2.00 at most locations around SB for brief periods in '09.
COMMENT 327696	2012-10-04 10:17 AM
Higher in SB than Kona Hawaii right now! Not good!
COMMENT 327698	2012-10-04 10:20 AM
Just before the 2004 and 2008 elections, gas prices (artificially) went through the roof. Oil companies do that to give the Republicans something to use against the Democrats. Just wait until December. Gas prices will be back below $4/gal.
COMMENT 327712	2012-10-04 10:37 AM
A couple of observations to the various posts... The president, be it a republican or democratic president has no control over gas prices. gas is a commodity and prices are controlled by the forces of the market. The oil companies may have very well punished s.b. for the oil spill in the 60's, unfairly raising prices locally, which raises the question of why politicians are not investigating this? could it be because of all the drilling on the santa barbara coast? seems to me we should get a discount at the pump for having those drill rigs on our shore. As far as California's special blend of gas law, this adds a few extra cents to the gallon, well worth the price to not have the smog we had in the 70's/80's. Finally to the poster who claims... nuclear energy is the safest and cleanest form of energy... are you kidding me? I think the residents of Chernobyl and Fukushima might disagree?
COMMENT 327717P	2012-10-04 10:39 AM
if anyone actually cared to find out the current reasons rather than just parrot their own political slant on gas prices read below http://www.contracostatimes.com/mr-roadshow/ci_21682632/gas-prices-soar-refinery-problems? source=inthenews
REXOFSB	2012-10-04 10:52 AM
@RHS has said it all in a very concise nutshell.
COMMENT 327737	2012-10-04 11:05 AM
Today in London the average price per gallon of gas is $8.50. Things could be worse. Of course the price of gas in Saudi Arabia today is under $0.50 per gallon.
COMMENT 327756	2012-10-04 11:28 AM
717P - Accurate, but too narrow in scope. I'm harping on the "Carter Plan" from 1979 (as noted in my above post #540) to suggest that having a "diversified energy portfolio" in place decades ago would help mitigate against the exogenous shocks that occur from time-to-time such as the one in your post. It's not too late... Write your Congresswoman or Congressman and President Obama or Romney!
COMMENT 327761P	2012-10-04 11:34 AM
717-I'm sure the oil industry would love for us to believe a refinery issue is causing the change but it just is not true. Speculators and corporate profit are to blame. The oil companies are raking in record profits while we give them tax breaks and pay more for their product. Too bad we are so dependent because we could fix this by simply not buying gas until the price was reasonable to us. If it is truely supply and demand all we can do is decrease our demand until they stop charging outrageous prices.
COMMENT 327810P	2012-10-04 01:48 PM
761 ok so I will discount this also http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/10/gas_price_los_an geles_6_dollars_shortage_costco.php
JEFFINSB	2012-10-04 04:42 PM
I just walked by. It's now $4.69 for regular!
COMMENT 327925	2012-10-04 06:15 PM
They're going up across the nation and won't drop anytime before November 6. Say hello to President Romney.
COMMENT 327980P	2012-10-04 10:56 PM
712, you CAN ask the residents of Chernobyl and Fukashima and ThreeMile Island.....because they are all still alive
COMMENT 328016	2012-10-05 07:47 AM
Aside from deaths from old age in the case of Chernobyl and TMI? Yes. They are all still alive. Three Mile Island didn't kill anyone, specifically.
COMMENT 328329	2012-10-05 07:43 PM
You guys are funny. Even at $4+/gallon, gasoline is cheap. Drive! Enjoy!
COMMENT 328334	2012-10-05 08:00 PM
The genetic after-effects of Chernobyl have been extensively reported, and documented, and literally tens of thousands of photographs and videos of the children born horribly mutated, of parents who lived within 150 miles of Chernobyl, aren't enough for you? I have seen and read article after article, accompanied by graphic and tragic photographs of the malformed, forever-disabled spawn of Chrenobyl, and it is horrific - something out of Dante's Inferno. It is much too premature to cast any evaluations on the lasting damage done to human and other life, from the Fukushima meltdowns, but according to the scientific news coverage I've seen, the nuclear fallout from Fukushima dwarfs that of Chernobyl. Ask yourself, why the Russian government continues to maintain the prohibition on former residents of Chernobyl, being allowed to return to the homes they had to evacuate after April 26. 1986. The Russian, formerly Communist regime, can easily be understood to have cut all kinds of corners on safety with their Nuclear power plants, but how do you account for virtually the same indifference to safety on the part of the Japanese nuclear engineers who designed Fukushima? No, I'm sorry, with all due respect, the number and severity of nuclear "accidents" suffered in the postwar era is just totally excessive and unacceptable if we as a civilization, want to maintain a habitat that is safe for ourselves, our children, and their children.

30% of comments on this page were made by Edhat Community Members.

*** One comment was removed from this thread by the Edhat Board Nanny for violating Edhat Comments Board policy. Click Here to see it.