In California the gas prices continue to rise, affecting 90-95% of California residents. Hitting a national high average of $5.90 per gallon, but why is this happening?
This could be explained by a combination of factors, like high state taxes/fees and a special cleaner-burning field blend requirements, since California requires a specific, more complex, and cleaner-burning gasoline blend to meet environmental regulations, which is costlier to produce.
California is also not connected to major interstate to major interstate pipelines, meaning the state must rely on its own refineries or expensive, long-distance imports for fuel, but recent closures and maintenance at local refineries have reduced supply, and replacing this volume through imports is difficult and expensive.
