The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Inland Empire increased three-tenths of a cent Saturday, the smallest increase during a 26-day streak of rising prices.
The average price in Riverside and San Bernardino counties of $4.284 is 7.3 cents more than one week ago, 58.1 cents higher than one month ago and 14.2 cents greater than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.
The average price has risen 56.8 cents during the streak of increases, the longest since a 27-day streak from Feb. 8 to March 5, 2012.
-City News Service
Answer: Nothing
Keystone will cause gasoline prices to RISE, not fall. Gulf refineries are already moving from making gasoline and toward diesel fuel for export, tightening gas supplies which drives up the price at the pump. Keystone completion will mean the switch from gas to diesel-for-export will increase dramatically, further tightening gas supplies. Refined oil products are the U.S.'s #1 export. These for-export gulf refineries are tax-free zones. Huge profits for refiners while paying no taxes to our treasury for refined oil products they export to Europe and China. As the big money is in diesel production, large increases in tar sands oil reaching the gulf means more refining capacity will go to simpler and more profitable diesel production and away from refining into gasoline. Big Oil wants the pipeline because they make huge untaxed profits with diesel-for-export, and since less gasoline is refined, suppy shrinks and gas prices rise - so refiners make great profits from gasoline as well, because they know U.S. consumers MUST buy gasoline, whatever the price. They will then say price is rising because of a "shortage" of gasoline, but won't tell you they CREATE the shortage by, thanks to Keystone tar sands oil reaching the gulf, switching their refineries from producing gasoline to diesel-for-export.
Keystone will cause gasoline prices to RISE, not fall." REPLY: NOT TRUE! Upgraded Oil sent to the Keystone pipeline is a light sweet crude that produces gasoline. Canadian upgraders take 12 api gravity crude and convert it into a crude that can be run in a refinery.
Exported oil products are sent from tax-free zones in the gulf, so the U.S. gets no revenue from those exports. Both the GOP and Fox know this is true, but they are in the pocket of Big Oil and gulf refinery owners like the Koch Brothers, who own the Flint Hills refinery in Corpus Christie, and stand to make around $2 billion for themselves if the pipeline is built.
To say tar sands oil can be refined into the synthetic equivalent of a light sweet crude is to say nothing. I don't know what you mean by "upgraded." I assume you mean refined. Of course tar sands heavy oil CAN be further refined to make gasoline, but it won't be. It takes much more refining to turn it into gasoline than diesel and refiners (who are in business to make money) in the gulf are modifying gas refineries into diesel refineries (look it up) because that's where the money is with tar sands oil. A diesel refinery doesn't make gasoline. Gasoline refineries on the East Coast have been shutting down because there isn't enough money to be made refining gasoline. Keystone completion means still fewer gas refineries which means less gasoline for U.S. consumers and that means higher prices. Big Oil refiners are in business to make money, not friends, and have no interest in making less money by emphasizing gasoline production when the real money is in diesel-for-export. By the way, Canada now sells tar sands oil to U.S. midwest refineries at the discounted price of $30 a barrel because of a lack of pipeline capacity. With Keystone completed that discount price will disappear as well, and U.S. prices WILL RISE.
The $138 price in 2008 was caused by speculators, not a lack of supply. The Bush never caught hell from anyone but dopes who don't know that whose Prez does not affect gasoline prices up or down. And not all press is quiet. Fox blames B.O. for current high gas prices and they are the MOST WATCHED NEWS in the U.S.! - and they're dopes, too. Still, you can give B.O. hell if it makes you feel good.
The truth is the entire world is being hosed by oil companies. The Dakota's area have what may be 18 billion barrels of crude reserve, that's as much as Saudia Arabia. We should be paying about $.50 per gallon for gas, not $4.30. What we are to big business is an asset that they want to drain dry. The only thing that saves us from super overcharged prices is refineries need to operate at 100% for efficiency, if they could operate at less they would to manipulate prices. Now oil refineries state they are doing maintenance or changing from winter to summer blend to manipulate prices. Fact is, the refineries weren't being shutdown for these reasons. Oversight of refineries and making oil comapnies keep them running to capacity ( no shutdowns execept of true maintenance reasons), this is the answer to gas prices reflecting crude prices. Oil companies make shortgages though refining capicity. Why do you think a new refierinery hasn't been built in the US for twenty plus years and they oil companies want to shut down operating refineries (Shell in Bakersfield). It is because they can manipulate gas supply this way without costing them anything in refinery efficiency. We're being hosed, we need a national oil company like Carter wanted.