San Francisco drivers are reacting to spiking gas prices that are going for $5.96 a gallon on average in the city.
One Chevron gas station near California and Steiner Streets was $6.57 a gallon for regular unleaded on Monday.
“No it’s outrageous, it’s crazy, and wrong,” one person told ABC7 Eyewitness News.
“But the Bay Area is hardest hit here. The Bay Area is paying close to $2 more than the national average for gasoline, which is absurd. We should be at a dollar more,” said Jamie Court, who heads the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog.
ABC7 Eyewitness News also spoke with UC Berkeley’s Severin Borenstein, an expert in the industry.
“Right now gas prices are actually up more than you would expect, given where oil prices are- but I think the market is just trying to catch up with the oil market, and the oil market of course, is still extremely volatile,” said Borenstein.
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Several states have dropped, suspended, or paused gas taxes to lower driver costs amid the war with Iran. Borenstein is against that.
“Yeah, I think a state tax holiday is pretty problematic because I think it’s hard to reinstate it.”
Unlike Borenstein, Court believes that price gouging is happening right now across the state of California. He believes we should be at around 87 cents above the national average in California, not $2.
“Well, the numbers don’t lie. Refiners are making a dollar more per gallon than they did in January. They’re making $1.50 a gallon, and based on two years of historical data, that’s as much as they have made at any time or any month in the last two years,” said Court.
The prices differences certainly can be seen.
One gas station in San Francisco was 58 cents higher than the other, which was directly across the street.
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As for who is to blame, Court believes the governor should doing more to regulate refiners.
“This one is squarely on Governor Newsom’s shoulders. Trump can be responsible for 66 cents in increased costs because of the increased cost accrued. Newsom’s responsible for that extra dollar that refiners are charging us that they shouldn’t,” said Court.
“Of course, Trump can end this at any time by just declaring victory and saying whatever has happened is all he’s going for. He has to hope at that point that the Iranians decide that they’re also ready to open the Strait of Hormuz and stop fighting,” said Borenstein.
Still though, some drivers are trying to make the best out of the situation, glad that they still have gas to buy.
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