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Originally Posted by FRPLG
Not demand. Supply. Cali's uber environmental regulations mean they need more specialized blends that are of course in short supply. Plus there are higher gas taxes. In most "liberal" states the gas prices are higher because it is more socially acceptable to tax gas at a higher rate. Not attacking...just saying. Around here Maryland has the same issues.
Anything involving economics is just crazy complicated. It is unintelligent to blame one facet of a situation when something is out whack. Big oil isn't innocent but they aren't nearly as guilty as lots of people would have you believe. It just not that simple.
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the main culprit was the over consolidation of oil refineries, the lack of contingency planning and fallback capacity (which we have for other vital needs, like the phone and power networks), and the general problem with politicians not wanting to address problems until it's already too late (engineers have been saying that those barriers needed fixing since at least the 80's... oops. At least they'll get fixed now :P that is, unless the country just decides it's not worth it and abandons the region for good.)
the oil consumption of war and middle east instability also has something to do with it. But again, the main problem right now isn't in getting the oil, it's in getting the refined fuels.