04-28-2016, 11:49 AM
billb wrote:
Switch to Summer blend.
Winter fuel can have more butane which is cheap but can't be used after 1 May because it evaporates too readily at warmer Summer temps. Generally because thee are a bunch of different blends across the country as is the case in California.
Refineries have to shut down ( and also do some maintenance ) to make the switch(es) to different blends.
Motorcycles and Corvettes come out of Winter storage along with lawn/yard maintenance tools - all sucking down gasoline.
Always lots of "intelligent" opinions on this subject that rarely even come close to the truth. As someone who worked for many years in the Gas & Awl (as they pronounce it here in Texas), thanks for being the ONE shining light of truth on this subject!
There are something like 120 different blends mandated by the EPA that are produced and used across the country making it nearly impossible to move refined products from one are to another. One exception to this was when Geo Bush bypassed these regulations after Katrina to make gasoline widely available when most of the refineries in the Gulf were shut down due to the hurricane.
The other factor affecting prices is what comes out of a barrel of crude and the markets. A barrel of crude can generally be refined to produce gasoline with a by product of diesel or refined to produce diesel with a by product of gasoline. In the winter with less driving and more need for heating oil the refineries are tuned to produce diesel/heating oils and the gas produced is generally more than needed with decreased driving, so gas prices fall. The opposite usually happens in the summer.