Gas Prices Rise Outside California

It doesn’t happen often, but California motorists are paying less on average for gasoline than drivers in much of the rest of the country.

Shortages of a tougher reformulated gasoline that was introduced in about one-third of the nation June 1 has pushed the national average for self-serve regular up nearly 7 cents a gallon to a record $1.631, according to the Energy Information Administration, based on a weekly survey of 800 gasoline stations.

Higher oil prices also contributed to the gasoline price increase, the Energy Department’s statistical arm said.

The California average price for self-serve regular gasoline is $1.614, virtually unchanged from the week before. California has required its own cleaner-burning fuel since 1996. The last time the U.S. average price was higher than California’s was in January 1997.

Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency met with U.S. refiners Monday and later said the refiners provided “no good explanation” for why fuel costs are so high, particularly in the Midwest. The oil industry responded that the new smog-fighting gasoline is more difficult to make than conventional gas and cannot be produced in the same higher volumes.