Bay Area Gas Prices Rise, Refinery Maintenance Partly Blamed

BAY AREA, CA -- Gas prices in the Bay Area climbed over the past month, largely due to "various degrees of challenges" experienced by the state's refineries, according to a monthly price survey.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the Bay Area is now $2.82, up 18 cents from a month ago, according to a survey by the American Automobile Association, better known as Triple A.

San Francisco is enduring the Bay Area's highest gas prices, which are $2.92 per gallon; Santa Cruz has the cheapest prices, which are averaging $2.67.

South Lake Tahoe has the highest prices in the state, with a gallon going for an average of $2.98, up 22 cents from a month ago, AAA said.

Statewide, the average price is now $2.81, up 15 cents from the same period last month.

AAA says flaring at Chevron's Richmond plant, Phillips 66's Rodeo plant and Shell's Martinez refinery is partly to blame for the price hike.

Flaring is the process of burning off flammable gas released by pressure relief valves during unplanned over-pressuring of plant equipment. Flaring protects against the dangers of over-pressuring such equipment.

Also, expected maintenance at Valero's Benicia plant and Tesoro's Los Angeles refinery, as well as a power outage at Phillips 66's Wilmington refinery near Los Angeles last week share some of the responsibility, according to AAA.

Nationally the average price for a gallon of gas rose 16 cents to $2.37, which is the highest average since last June.

"Retail prices have increased for 40 of the past 42 days as a result of market reactions to the OPEC oil cut agreement," AAA officials said in a Jan. 13 statement.

Bay City News contributed to this report/Image via Shutterstock