WTF, the gas companies are making money hands over foot, and they can't build more refineries in case of this type of accidents or failures?

In the computer world, we have backup machines to take over failed primary machines.

Oh but wait, if the refineries did that, then they couldn't charge the outrageous prices.

And where would one suggest that the gas companies build these new refineries? The last time I looked, we couldn't even build a cell tower in Mountain View without having half the community tear at the city council. That would be a doll party compared to building a refinery, anywhere (though the ground's already poisoned underneath Hanger One - how about we put one there?)

Wait a minute! Don't they usually RAISE gas prices in the winter, saying that California needs a special blend not used anywhere else? But, switching to it now is going to be cheaper because it is easier for them to make? This isn't adding up for me.

Good for Feinstein for asking it to be investigated.

Re: "the gas companies are making money hands over foot, and they can't build more refineries in case of this type of accidents or failures?"

It has been decades since the construction of a new refinery has been approved in California.

@kman: You really have to pay more attention. The companies have been trying to build more refineries for years. California NEVER approves them. This, along with the special blends, keep prices higher hear than just about anyplace else. Simple supply and demand really. Charging high prices is NOT the goal Einstein. Making MONEY is the goal. If they could produce more and charge less they could sell far more and make bigger profits. High prices DEPRESS sales numbers. High prices mean higher airplane fares, for example, which means fewer people fly and less gas is sold. It is NOT that complicated.

@Rossta: Actually, they use special blends in BOTH seasons, which keeps our prices high since we cannot share with other states and keep prices low. The winter blend happens to be cheaper to produce than the summer blend, but they are BOTH more expensive than not doing a special blend at all.

From MTBE to ETHANOL...........What next?

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With these suoper high prices I'm putting small amounts of gas in my car, just enough, and then hopping on my bike whenever I can. I may actually _gain_ money by spending more for gas, but using it far less.

There are ways around this temporary spike, it just takes a bit of effort on the part of the individual. If you expect to continue "business as usual" with your actions though, yes, it'll cost you more.
For me I figure its good practice for the inevitable future when gas is regularly over $5/gal. I guess its also good practice for those who refuse to get out of their cars, even for small trips. Its a way of getting used to how much you will regularly have to pay for gas. Probably in about one year we'll see $5/gal daily.

It is NOT inevitable that gas will cost over $5 a gallon if we kick the current bunch of lunatics out of office at the upcoming election.

There is something in economics called the law of supply and demand. If supply decreases with fixed demand, like from people who have to drive to work, then prices increase. The politicians like Feinstein can't repeal this law no matter how much they huff and puff.

But if you get more supply prices drop. Look what happened to the price of natural gas with the increased supply. What do politicians like Brown do to temporarily placate the sheeple near election time? They increase supply by temporarily easing the insane requirements that keep our prices over $1/gallon higher than the rest of the country.
The secret that the petty tyrants at the CA Air Resources Board (now that's an Orwellian name) do not want you to know is that the air in the rest of the country is just as clean as here. There would be no difference in air quality if we switched to the same gas used in other states. But it would return billions to the CA economy to drop out 10+% unemployment.

But that will never happen unless we kick these fools out of office.

Ah, i did not know that the refineries are not able to build more refineries here in CA. WTF, why not? Who the hell is in charge of these type of things? Like curious up above said, vote them all out.

If you want to know the profits being made by supply and demand, just look at the following

And the most valuable company right now is…
1. ExxonMobil – $428 Billion – As long as you keep filling up, Google will have a hard time knocking them off…

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