FOX Business’ Jeff Flock has details from New Jersey on Mornings with Maria.
Gas prices have increased in California in recent weeks as the state’s supply has been disrupted by recent reductions in refining capacity.
Gas prices rose 40 cents in about two weeks, about the same as the average gas price across the state. California at $4.58 a liter – up from $4.46 the previous week and $4.18 two weeks before that, according to data from AAA.
Those figures are well above the national average of $2.92 a gallon. California gas prices are the highest of all states, reaching $4.37 a gallon in Hawaii, $4.15 a gallon in Washington and $3.68 a gallon in Oregon.
Rising gas prices in California come amid a reduction in oil refining capacity due to reduced operating air at the Valero refinery in Benicia, and the earlier shutdown of the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles.
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The Phillips 66 Wilmington refinery near Los Angeles was previously closed. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The closure of the Benicia refinery, in Northern California, leaves only six working in the refinery in the state, which is the largest consumer of gasoline among all states except Texas.
Two others are located in the Bay Area, including Chevron’s Richmond refinery and PBF Energy’s Martinez refinery. The other four are located in Southern California – Marathon’s Los Angeles refinery, Chevron’s El Segundo refinery, PBF Energy’s Torrance refinery and Valero’s Wilmington.
The intensification of refining has prompted a California state senate caucus to write to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom calling for a special session to address the “cost and supply” crisis created by the state’s government-directed policies. oil and gas industry.
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Valero’s Benicia refinery is slated to close, reducing refining capacity in the state of California. (Paul Morris/Bloomberg)
“California is in a real crisis. Refineries are closing, supplies are dwindling, and my people are paying more at the pump every day,” said Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares in a report by FOX Business’ Jeff Flock that aired on “Morning with Maria.”
“It’s not a theory, this is happening right now. And the longer we wait to deal with this issue, the more instability and volatility we’re going to see here in California,” he added.
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Across the country, electricity prices fell last year, according to the latest consumer price index (CPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
BLS’ January CPI inflation report showed that electricity prices fell by 7.5% last year and that prices fell by 3.2% from the previous month.
Energy prices across the country were the lowest in the past year, with the CPI showing an energy index down 0.1%.
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The decline in gas prices was partially offset by increases in electricity and gas service prices, which rose 6.3% and 9.8% last year, respectively.
FOX Business’ Arabella Bennett contributed to this report.
