California Gas Prices Could Increase by 37 Cents Overnight

According to a Consumer Watchdog group, they are telling California drivers to fill up their gas tanks immediately because gas is going to skyrocket

They warned Southern California drivers that they would be facing sticker shock at their gasoline pumps beginning this weekend as the state’s biggest oil refiners raised wholesale prices charged to station owners by 37 cents.

The price hike accompanies the transition to summer blends of gasoline, which are being delivered by oil refiners to branded gasoline stations beginning today.  Street prices will begin rising as of today.

“Drivers in Southern California should fill up now because gasoline prices are going up quickly and not coming back down for a while,” said Consumer Watchdog president Jamie Court. “Oil refiners made billions extra last year because of our pain at the pump and after a short respite the pain is going to continue. What’s remarkable is that the four major oil refiners all raised the prices to their branded stations, 75% of the Southern California market, in unison and by nearly the same amount. When four refiners control nearly 80% of the gasoline production and 75% of the stations in the area this market is rigged for refiners’ profit and drivers’ pain.”

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Local Gas Prices Via Gas Buddy

• Antioch: $1.89 – $2.59
• Brentwood: $1.89 – $2.45
• Discovery Bay: $1.99 – $2.19
• Oakley: $1.89 – $2.45
• Pittsburg: $1.99 – $2.49

AAA Fuel Gauge

According to AAA, the average price of gasoline in the United States today is $1.71.

On February 22, AAA said that the national average for regular unleaded gasoline continues to hover at levels not seen since the Great Recession, largely due to abundant supplies and low crude oil costs. Today’s average price of $1.71 per gallon is the lowest price for this date since 2004, and pump prices have fallen for 41 of the past 47 days for a total savings of 29 cents per gallon.

Motorists in the West are paying some of the nation’s highest averages led by Hawaii ($2.57) and California ($2.32). Regional neighbors Alaska ($2.22), Washington ($2.02) and Nevada ($2.00) round out the top five most expensive markets for gasoline.