California Gas Stations Begin to Shut on Record-High Prices - Bloomberg
Gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area including Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) are beginning to shut pumps because of supply shortages that have driven wholesale fuel prices to record highs.
Costcos outlet in Simi Valley, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, ran out of regular gasoline yesterday and was selling premium fuel at the price of regular, Jeff Cole, Costcos vice president of gasoline, said by telephone. The company hasnt been able to find enough unbranded summer-grade gasoline to keep its stations supplied, he said.
The gasoline shortage feels like a hurricane to me, but its the West Coast, Cole said yesterday. Were obviously extremely disheartened that we are unable to do this, and were pulling fuel from all corners of California to fix this.
Spot, or wholesale, gasoline in Los Angeles climbed 30 cents to $1.45 a gallon over gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Thats the highest level for the fuel since at least November 2007, when Bloomberg began publishing prices there. The premium has surged $1 this week. On an outright basis, the fuel jumped to $4.3396 a gallon.
This is REALLY turning into Jimmy Carter Part Two.
Gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area including Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) are beginning to shut pumps because of supply shortages that have driven wholesale fuel prices to record highs.
Costcos outlet in Simi Valley, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, ran out of regular gasoline yesterday and was selling premium fuel at the price of regular, Jeff Cole, Costcos vice president of gasoline, said by telephone. The company hasnt been able to find enough unbranded summer-grade gasoline to keep its stations supplied, he said.
The gasoline shortage feels like a hurricane to me, but its the West Coast, Cole said yesterday. Were obviously extremely disheartened that we are unable to do this, and were pulling fuel from all corners of California to fix this.
Spot, or wholesale, gasoline in Los Angeles climbed 30 cents to $1.45 a gallon over gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Thats the highest level for the fuel since at least November 2007, when Bloomberg began publishing prices there. The premium has surged $1 this week. On an outright basis, the fuel jumped to $4.3396 a gallon.
This is REALLY turning into Jimmy Carter Part Two.