Why are Gasoline Prices Still High?

By an edhat reader

So as always, why is it that oil has now gone into a negative, that every single gas station in Santa Barbara/Goleta still just under $3.00? The national average is hear is $1.77 and in some places a dollar.

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Written by yiannis93101

What do you think?

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27 Comments

  1. Gas buddy says cheapest average gas price is in Fresno at $2.50/gal. No way you saw $0.99/gal unless it was some kind of give-away promotion at cost. You should provide a link or a retraction to your assertion.

  2. I (used to) drive between SB and LA occasionally and although Arco gas prices in LA are usually 20 cents cheaper, prices at the Arcos in Ventura and SB are about the same. So the market seems pretty competitive unless you are talking about the gas stations along Storke which are really expensive.

  3. There have been numerous reports about the mysterious 30-50 cent gap in the price of gasoline in CA for decades. This is money that is taken by the refiners above the cost of production. The legislature has been asked to look into this but the oil companies have blocked investigation every time. Because they have a lock on refining in CA (only a few plants and no competition) they get away with it and huge profits result. This morning’s LA Times referenced this again and pointed out that the companies are almost totally out of the retail business. The amount of money the vendor makes per gallon is pretty small potatoes compared to that Chevron and friends manage. Yes, our prices are higher due to formulations that protect our health and taxes that pay for our roads but that is not the scandal.

  4. Our gasoline could be the cheapest in the US, but California will not allow it. Here is an LA times aritcle about why our gas is so expensive. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gasoline-manipulation-infobox-20150706-story.html Perhaps the governor could relax the requirements on fuel formulations and waive the taxes to help ease the cost burden on Califonria’s poorest families? Perhaps he could waive vehicle registration fees, taxes on utilities, etc.? Nope! That won’t happen! How come California always shafts the poor?

  5. It is interesting many of the same people who want to help the low incomed are at the same time environmentalists who want higher/high taxes on gas for the older cars those low incomed folk drive. Few of low income folks can afford the Prius and other hybrid models, even with the tax reductions that the high incomed folk receive.

  6. ” We get robbed in a little market like Goleta/SB where there is no competition.”
    the word you are looking for… is Demand. people as a whole are doing way less driving than before due to so many businesses closing.

  7. In order to keep the cost of your Tesla low, scores of children have died working in Congolese Cobalt mines. In addition, great numbers of Congolese children have birth defects due to the widespread uranium contamination that is caused by Cobalt mining. That’s just the impact of the cobalt, think of the other materials needed to make your battery. Perhaps there is some cost benefit to EVs in some situations, but there is definitely not an environmental or humanitarian benefit.

  8. I agree 88. And that’s without even considering the cost of the battery. Electric cars also have a tremendous environmental and humanitarian impact that a lot of people seem to gloss over. Cobalt is just one of many materials needed to manufacture EV batteries. Here is a WAPO article about the impact of cobalt mining, which is predominantly done in the Congo. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2018/02/28/the-cost-of-cobalt/ Then consider the impact of Chinese lithium mining, battery disposal, etc. I would much rather buy fuel produced in the USA in accordance with our environmental and labor standards.

  9. More misinformation, as usual. The subsidies and environmental costs of petroleum fueled vehicles are ignored.
    ===========================================================================
    https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-help-to-tackle-climate-change
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    http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/ev-emissions-tool#.VuolayjPb8t
    ===========================================================================
    http://www.climatecentral.org/news/a-roadmap-to-climate-friendly-cars-2013-16318

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