San Luis Obispo had the highest gas price average in the nation on Tuesday, according to figures from GasBuddy.com, a website that compares gas prices from around the nation. Both San Francisco and San Luis Obispo had average gas prices of $4.39.
Senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com Gregg Laskoski said California is tied with Connecticut and New York for the highest gas taxes in the country at 67 cents a gallon, and this is one of the main reasons prices are so much higher than in other States.
The recent spike in prices in San Luis Obispo is causing some to work more, ride bikes more and some are even stealing gas.
Thirty-five gallons of gas were siphoned from trucks at San Luis Obispo U-Haul last weekend. Gas was also stolen from San Luis Obispo Budget Truck Rental vehicles on Feb. 17, 25 and 28. All of the thefts took place at night.
Bill Proll, San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLOPD) lieutenant said he is not sure if there’s a correlation between rising gas prices and gas theft, but it is possible.
“We occasionally have gas theft when the prices are high,” Proll said. “A lot of people don’t even know they have gas stolen.”
Proll said truck rental businesses are targeted because they are located in large, dark areas, and the trucks don’t have locking gas caps.
SLOPD did not have information on suspects and does not know if the incidences are related. The areas where gas was stolen are now being patrolled more, according to Proll.
Communication studies sophomore Audrey Coleman said she did not know gas prices were rising until one of her friends posted it as a Facebook status.
“Gas prices haven’t affected me because I rarely drive,” Coleman said. “I bike…and my father pays for my gasoline mainly because he wants me to go home and visit him.”
Other students looked to work for a way to combat rising prices. Industrial engineering junior Justine Ramos said she took on 10 more hours a week just to pay for gas.
“My roommate has three jobs instead of two in order to pay for gas,” Ramos said. “A lot of my friends have been riding their bikes to school just to save money on gas.”
Ramos said working to offset gas prices takes away from study hours and ultimately causing more stress.
Another reason for higher gas prices was a fire at BP’s refinery in Blaine, Washing. a few weeks ago, according to Laskoski. The refinery is the largest marketer of transport fuel for the West Coast of the U.S., according to GasBuddy.com.
Laskoski also said California has regulations on permissible summer blends of gasoline, which causes an annual spike in gas prices from springtime through the end of summer.
California has these regulations on certain additives to cause less smog, but they cost more than the additives added in winter, he said.
“It’s reasonable to expect to see many California cities’ gas prices going between $4.50 to $5,” Laskoski said. “With all the uncertainty in the Middle East, we should expect crude oil prices will climb higher. If they’re going higher, gas should follow the same track.”
Although the gas price spikes might be temporary, the steadily rising costs could reamin consistent .Cal Poly economics department chair Steve Hamilton said there is a lot of tension pushing fuel prices up in the long run.
“China’s coming in a lot stronger into these markets, and they’re demanding a lot more fuel,” Hamilton said. “Refining capacity hasn’t gone up, meaning we’re really producing a fixed amount of oil output roughly each year, and if that happens and China buys more of it, that means less of it for U.S. consumers and that will put upward pressure on prices.”
Students at Cal Poly who pay for their own fuel are frustrated with the upward trend in gas prices. Kinesiology senior Bobby McNeal said the prices are “lousy,” and he read gas prices could rise to $5 per gallon, which is what Laskoski predicted.
In contrast to this, Hamilton said he doesn’t think prices will hit $5 anytime soon.
“Honestly, I don’t think there’s any magic number in the sense that there’s no psychological barrier to prices hitting any level,” Hamilton said. “It could hit $5. I personally don’t think so.”
Another question raised by rising prices is whether or not people will start protesting the prices.
Ramos said prices will have to go above $5 a gallon before people will take a stand and try to work together to do something about them.
“It’s really hard to know what to do,” Ramos said. “We can protest, but it’s hard because it’s a foreign policy problem. A lot of people know gas prices are changing, but they don’t exactly know why or how to change it.”
Hamilton said some ways to reduce gas prices in the long run include riding a bike, carpooling and switching to fuel efficient vehicles.
For the short term, he said people should use networking sites such as craigslist.com to find people to carpool with.
In contrast to San Luis Obispo having the highest gas price average in the nation, Fort Collins, Colo. had the lowest at $3.22 on Tuesday.
Hamilton said though prices will continue to fluctuate, $3 a gallon and higher is here to stay.
“The economic downturn a few years ago caused gas prices to come down a little bit,” Hamilton said. “A year ago versus three years ago, gas prices were actually cheaper than they had been. I think gas prices now are back about the level they were at three years ago.”