As the price nationwide for a gallon of regular gasoline rose from $1.70 a month ago to $1.92 currently, it is above $5 in small pockets of California and Florida, and above $3.99 in slightly larger clusters.
Two stations, near the entrance to the Orlando International Airport, which is the gateway to huge Disney park facilities, have prices of $5.99 and $5.95. Nearby, another station has a price of $4.59. Likely, the stations capture drivers entering the airport as the last stops on the trip into the parks.
High gas prices are more common throughout large portions of California, which has the highest price among all states at $2.57, according to GasBuddy. As a means of contrast, the state with the lowest priced gas is New Jersey at $1.67 a gallon.
Of the 25 stations with the highest gas prices in America, 19 are in California, mostly around Los Angeles and San Francisco. Generally, prices in and around large cities are higher than those in less populated areas.
California drivers have several factors against them that make up most of the price of gas. One is the price of oil, which recently has risen from $28 to $40 a barrel. Much of the increase is due to the perception that supply is tightening as some drillers cannot make money on low oil prices and so have curtailed production. Another is that large oil-consuming countries like China continue to have a demand for crude, even as their economies slow.
According to MarketWatch:
China imported 31.80 million metric tons of crude oil in February, equivalent to 8.0 million barrels a day, preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs showed Tuesday.
Imports were 24.5% higher than the 25.55 million tons of crude shipped in during the month a year earlier and was up about 19% from 26.69 million tons in January.
Another factor is proximity to large refineries. The most populated parts of California are far from areas like the Texas refinery cluster on the Gulf of Mexico.
Finally, gas taxes and levies by state may be as critical as any other factor. According to the American Petroleum Institute, the amount in California is $0.59 per gallon, the fifth highest among all states, against a national average of $0.48.
No matter which direction gas prices go, California will remain on the “most expensive gas” list.
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