S8 Ep179: PREVIEW — Jeff Bliss — California Gas Prices and Regulatory Constraints. Bliss reports that while national average gasoline prices are declining due to demand weakness and ample supply, California gasoline prices remain persistently elevated, frequently e

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 12 December 2025

⏱️ 2 minutes

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Summary

PREVIEW — Jeff Bliss — California Gas Prices and Regulatory Constraints. Bliss reports that while national average gasoline prices are declining due to demand weakness and ample supply, California gasoline prices remain persistently elevated, frequently exceeding $5.00 per gallon due to state-specific regulatory frameworks and the systematic closure of petroleum refineries reducing processing capacity. Bliss warns that energy market experts project California gasoline prices could catastrophically escalate to approximately $12.00 per gallon, a devastating potential price increase for a state economy structurally dependent upon private automobile transportation and individual vehicle ownership for employment, commerce, and daily economic activity.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is John Batchler. Conversation with my good colleague Jeff Bliss. He is Pacific Watch.
0:07.3	About the price of gasoline in California. Why? Why? Why? Higher and higher. Jeff reports on what it is
0:14.1	nationally, somewhere around $3. What it is supposed to be the lows of California, someone about four and a half.
0:23.0	What I see on a tote board from Coldwater Canyon earlier this week, $6 to $7,
0:29.6	and what Jeff projects, others project into the near future.
0:33.9	Why? You won't believe the number. So wait. Why? Because the number of refineries
0:41.3	keep going offline. Because California discourages their refineries to come back online. They go
0:47.8	away. They have to truck the gasoline in from elsewhere. California, the land that depends upon the car that was
0:58.0	transformed by the freeways. And now, here's Jeff. More of this tonight. It seems like, you know,
1:04.2	gas prices are plunging to their lowest levels in years across the United States, except in California.
1:10.4	So, you know, California, the average price per gallon is 443, and honestly, I don't know
1:16.4	where you're going to find that.
1:17.2	I hardly ever see that anymore.
1:18.8	Most of the prices I see are north of $5.
1:21.8	And here's what, you know, experts are saying is that prices in California because of a lack of refining capabilities and regulations and taxes could go as high as $8 to $12 a gallon.
1:33.9	And that is just mind-blowing because so many parts of California are situated or, you know, created around a transportation system that is private cars and buses and things like that.
1:45.8	And so the costs of doing business and living in California is only going to go up.

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