I think this article understates the war risk premium built into pricing.
Why Are Gas Prices Are Suddenly So High? Blame the Refineries
It’s been an unusually expensive winter for drivers. Instead of dropping like normal during America’s chilly travel lull, average gas prices have marched up to around $3.80-a-gallon. That’s noticeably higher than at this time in any of the past five years, even though the price of oil isn’t much different than it was, say, last February.
It’s always hard to pin the price at the pump on any single variable, but in a short post today* the Energy Information Agency takes a stab at explaining the run up. Their theory: blame it on the refineries.
Refiners have kept gasoline production relatively low for the past twelve months, but a recent series of shutdowns everywhere from Philadelphia to Port Arthur, Texas, have made capacity particularly…
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