Oink oink. Gasoline prices in LA over $2 a gallon
I just paid 2.07 for self-serve regular gas tonight in Los Angeles. A few weeks ago it was 1.69.
“This thing has been moving like a three-stage rocket,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, a firm that tracks fuel trading. “You’re looking at [pump] prices of $2.10 or $2.20 just if retail catches up to wholesale.”
Pessimists, he noted, are predicting wholesale prices as high as $1.70 a gallon, which would translate into pump prices of $2.25 to $2.50 a gallon once taxes, transportation costs and the dealer’s margin are added.
Here’s a shocker:
It’s not entirely clear that the higher prices are warranted, market watchers said.
According to Oil Price, the fuel price tracking firm, California refiners are pocketing about 70 cents for each gallon of gasoline they sell <when> the gross margin earned by the state’s refiners is typically around 25 cents a gallon.
Isn’t this called “price-gouging” and aren’t there laws against it?