Why did gas prices rise by 58 cents this week in California?

[onecaliberal]

https://money.howstuffworks.com/oil-speculation-raise-gas-price.htm

[uponit7771]

1. Oil companies have their own speculators legally trading gas future prices (link)

https://money.howstuffworks.com/oil-speculation-raise-gas-price.htm

Whether it was speculators that drove up the cost of gas and oil is still debated. A July 2008 report by the International Energy Agency concluded that speculation had little to do with price increases [source: CNN Money]. But a report issued the following September contradicted the IEA report, pointing to correlations between the influx of money in oil futures markets and the rising cost of oil. The price of oil doubled, tripled and eventually quadrupled in step with the increase from $13 billion to $260 billion in the market from 2003 to 2008 [source: U.S. Senate].

In response to calls for better regulation of oil futures, Congress introduced the Consumer-First Energy Act in May 2008. The bill would have extended CFTC oversight to foreign markets, but the act died on the Senate floor the following June. After the bill was defeated, the argument over oil speculation changed focus. No longer was the debate over what caused oil prices to rise beginning in 2006, but how long the United States would allow speculation to continue.

[onecaliberal]

2. This is fucking nuts already.

When is someone going to out a stop to this.

[uponit7771]

4. +1, Dem have to pressure our reps to get the oil companies INSIDE THE US to at least bracket

... their gains and losses because this is getting stupid.

I updated the response to include links and quotes just in case someone tries to act like naked greed speculation has NOTHING to do with anything

[Meowmee]

15. Probably never

Because it will never be properly regulated.

[onecaliberal]

6. Thank you, I copied your link in my original as well. It's nothing but greed.

How is gas 3 dollars and something in red states, but 6 dollars in california. Our special mixture can only account for 50 cents of that. I am tired of giving money to these fuckers that are killing our planet.

[uponit7771]

7. +1, ... and starting wars. Russia doesn't need more land they want control of the second largest

... oil reserve in Europe and that's in Ukraine in the areas Putrid is trying to annex.

Even if Putrid can't extract the oil himself he keeps Ukraine from doing such and keeps control of a good portion of Europe economy ... so he thought.

[onecaliberal]

8. Spot on. Russian wants to control Energy and food for Europe. He isn't going to win, but it's

making things difficult in the short terms. We have so much putin envy on the republican side of the government, it's hard not to imagine moscow pulling strings here.

[jimfields33]

13. California puts a big tax on the gas.

The state tax is highest in the country. Counties add taxes too. It adds up.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/509649/us-states-with-highest-gas-tax-and-prices/

[RockRaven]

3. Because the oligopoly of oil refineries in this state decided they could get away with it?

That seems to be all it takes.

[JohnSJ]

5. One reason is because refineries have been shut down for maintenance.

[onecaliberal]

9. They do maintenance every year. It's never gone up 58 cents in one week.

[Casady1]

11. The only business

That raises its prices that charges you for doing normal business maintenance.

[Sympthsical]

10. It's jumped 70 cents here in a matter of days

NorCal.

I have no idea what the heck happened. I thought I was misreading it at first. It's been ticking a little bit up over the past three weeks or so, but then just boom. Wholloping jump out of absolute nowhere.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Threefold

The market speculators bid up refined prices in fear of the hurricane. It's unjustified because the affected refineries produce under 1% of gas & diesel in the US. In addition, the entire industry is running at around 85% of capacity. There was never going to be a shortage but they bid prices up anyway. Which brings us to...
Second, there's no breaking mechanism on the commodity markets to prevent unwarranted pricing. There's only a plunge protection mechanism. So, prices shoot up with nothing to counterbalance rampant speculation.
Finally, when crude & refined futures skyrocketed over Russian aggression, the speculators are still holding high price futures. They have to artificially manipulate price in the near term to cover the losses they're going to take when $2.90 futures have to be sold for 2 bucks.
The real issue is that we have a system based on supply & demand but it operates on emotion & supply can be manipulated at any time.
One storm comes along & the traders pounced.
It's a broken system with no rhyme or reason.
BTW: crude prices went down 2.5% on the same day refined prices went up 10% here. Raws go down, finished goes up? Broken system.

[Sympthsical]

14. Thank you for explaining it

Because I was baffled. California, because we have our special mixture and other factors, doesn't necessarily tend to reflect national trends as sensitively as other places. We have a little bit of a waxy price membrane built around our prices.

So to see that sudden enormous jump was shocking. I'm honestly not sure if I've ever seen something like that before. 70 cents in two days?

State average is now $6.18. It was $5.43 a week ago. Our average in June was $6.29 (I think the highest individual day was like $6.43).

So that's all those declines wiped right on out. Not that we really ever declined that much. It never went under $5.30 here after the June spike.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. It Should Drop Back Down

This was spot pricing speculation.
The futures, at much lower prices are still out there. When the markets calm down we can expect things to get back on that downward trend.
Unless, of course, another hurricane spooks the marketeers.

[Emile]

16. Predatory Capitalism

[Iwasthere]

17. Look at price per barrel

The last time it was it's current barrel price gas was WAY lower than it is now. I know it take some time for it to reach the pump but it seems to get longer and longer every time

[onecaliberal]

18. It never went below 5.10 here. Now it shot back up to 5.60 or more a gallon this week.