Los Angeles first major city in the country to reach average gas price of $6 per gallon

03/23/2022 / By Arsenio Toledo

Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 22, became the first major city in the United States to have an average gas price of over $6 per gallon.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for Boston-based fuel price assessment company GasBuddy, broke the story that Los Angeles was the first big city in America to breach the $6 mark for gas prices. He noted that this comes just weeks after Los Angeles reached an average gas price of $5 per gallon.

The average price of gas in the entire state of California is the highest in the country and far surpasses the national average, which has already fallen slightly from its record highs earlier this month.

The current national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.24, according to the American Automobile Association. This price is down from a peak of $4.35 per gallon on March 10.

By comparison, the average price of a gallon of gas in California is currently at $5.866, with Los Angeles County’s average price of $6.011 per gallon being the highest in the state.

Los Angeles County’s prices are followed closely behind by neighboring Southern California counties. The price of a regular gallon of gas in Orange County is at $5.97, while Ventura County is at $5.95, San Bernardino County at $5.9 and Riverside County at $5.88.

California gas prices to remain high for the next few weeks at least

Gas prices in the country have risen since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and if California’s prices were hovering just slightly above the national average it would not have been out of the ordinary. (Related: White House turns to low-IQ TikTok influencers to put spin on why oil and gas prices are rising… cue ridiculous “explanations” by clueless celebs.)

But analysts have pointed out that California has, in recent years, been known for having the highest gas prices in the U.S. due to the state’s high fuel consumption taxes and its cap and trade program, which assesses a premium based on emissions.

Furthermore, an ongoing strike at a Chevron refinery in the Bay Area has pushed the oil giant to find replacement workers, disrupting operations and pushing gas prices in Southern California further up.

Several other refineries in California, including PBF Energy refineries in Los Angeles and Contra Costa Counties and Valero refinery outside of San Francisco, are causing big hits to gasoline production.

The PBF Energy refinery in Los Angeles County is located in Torrance and is a crucial source of gas for the Greater Los Angeles area.

According to De Haan, the above-mentioned refineries, excluding Chevron’s, have undergone “flaring,” or burning off of gases that have to be released when the refineries go into safety mode due to problems that have emerged. None of the refineries have disclosed why they are in safety mode, but it could be due to valve or computer issues.

De Haan added that it can take between two to four weeks before a refinery can return to full capacity, which means California will have to deal with lower gas supplies until at least the end of March.

Lawmakers in the solidly Democratic state have been under pressure for weeks to resolve the situation. The leading proposal by Democrats is for the distribution of a $400 gas rebate for all of California’s taxpayers, not just motorists.

This proposal would use around $9 billion of the state’s budget surplus.

“This proposed $400 rebate would cover the current 51 cents-per-gallon gas tax for one full year, 52 trips to the pump for most vehicles,” wrote the lawmakers who proposed this idea in a letter addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, asking for his support.

“Notably, we believe a rebate is a better approach than suspending the gas tax – which would severely impact funding for important transportation projects and offers no guarantee that oil companies would pass on the savings to consumers.”

Learn more about the deteriorating economic situation in California at CaliforniaCollapse.news.

Watch the full March 21 episode of “WarRoom” with host Owen Shroyer on InfoWars as he talks about how gas stations all over the country are imposing fueling limits.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.