The impact of Hurricane ‘Ian’ and the closure of five refineries for maintenance means the State is paying almost double the national average
Winter started a month earlier at California gas stations. Outraged by what he considers “extortion” of the industry, which keeps prices high no matter how much the state cuts taxes, the governor, Gavin Newsom, has authorized the sale of “winter gasoline,” which seasons on October 30. begins.
It is a cheaper, lower quality blend, 15% ethanol (E15), whose gases are more easily diluted in the atmosphere. In summer this volatility is even greater due to the high temperatures. That’s why the California government, which has the strictest regulations in the country, is forcing gas stations to sell cleaner and more expensive blends.
The change won’t be immediate, as many gas stations planned it for November. It won’t be as dramatic as the governor would like, but even a few cents count in the current economic climate. The price of gasoline in the country’s most progressive state is nearly twice the national average, with no urban transportation leaving residents without the car for shopping or going to work. In light of the current energy crisis, your government has taken some of the most drastic measures known, such as banning the sale of fossil fuel cars by 2035, the date by which all new vehicles on the market in California must be sold. are electric. In the meantime, the governor has admitted, the transition will be difficult.
Inventories are so tight that the closure of five refineries for maintenance has sent prices soaring this week. Add to this the impact of Hurricane ‘Ian’ and the extinction of the industry in a state with such strict environmental standards that they are unattractive to polluting companies. Of the 50 refineries California once had, only 14 remain, so the area must import from other refineries in the country. Only eleven in the entire US are producing fuels to required standards and some shutting production in anticipation of the course the fifth most catastrophic hurricane in the history of the US giant could take.
Still, Governor Newsom blames the industry. “We have never been this far from the national awards,” he said in a televised speech. “The reality is that (the oil companies) are cheating you. If the price of oil falls, the profits of the oil industry rise, and yet the price of gasoline in California rises by record amounts, then something is not right,” he concluded.
His proposal is to urge lawmakers to introduce a new tax on those who sell above market price. The industry is defending itself by accusing it and his predecessors of irresponsibility for decades of government policies aimed at reducing polluting emissions of hydrocarbons, rather than promoting their production. After 100 days of seeing prices drop across the country, thanks to tax cuts and federal efforts, Californians just know it’s their wallets that hurt.
Source: La Verdad
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