Arizona drovers not expected to see much increase
As the average price of regular unleaded gas surges past $4.60 a gallon in California, Arizona gas prices have leveled off after two weeks of price reductions.
AAA Arizona reports that the statewide price in our state has nudged upward by a penny per gallon to $3.69 in the last couple of days, a stark contrast to the approx. 50-cent-per-gallon spike in the state to our west. The national average gas price is $3.78 and falling.
According to AAA, the price jump in California is due to a combination of three simultaneous issues in that state: a reduction in output as refineries switch from summer-blend to winter-blend fuels, a recent refinery power outage, and a pipeline disruption.
"It created a 'perfect storm' resulting in a panic about the adequacy of fuel supplies over there," said AAA-Arizona spokeswoman Stephanie Dembowski.
She says the California pricing situation isn't expected to have much impact in Arizona, even though our state gets about half of its fuel supplies via pipeline from California, and the other half via a pipeline from Texas.
Dembowski predicts the California price spike will be brief – perhaps lasting only a week or two – until the three issues that sent prices skyward are resolved.
