A Valero Energy refinery in the Bay Area that provides about 9% of California’s gasoline supply began shutting down at the end of January, earlier than some anticipated, with potential knock-on effects on gas and motor fuels prices in Nevada, Arizona and other western states.
A former manager at Valero Energy, Mike Aziza, said the San Antonio-based oil company started idling the Benicia, Calif. refinery on Jan. 31, and thermal imaging reports show it is not emitting heat, according to a report in the California Globe.
Californians paid the nation’s highest gas prices as of early Wednesday morning at $4.50 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. That's above the national average of $2.92.
Drivers in neighboring states Nevada and Arizona, some of them supplied by gasoline produced at California’s refineries, paid the fifth and ninth highest fuel prices in the nation.
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