State’s Average Gasoline Price Surges Above $2

California motorists saw gasoline costs leap an average of 16.1 cents in the last week, sending the statewide price above $2 a gallon for the first time since August, according to a federal survey released Monday.

The average cost of a gallon of self-serve regular grade soared to $2.029 in California, reflecting a smattering of gasoline production glitches and wild increases on the wholesale fuel market last week, experts said.

Gasoline supplies are chronically fragile in California, where 13 refineries produce at full tilt and still have to bring in imports to satisfy in-state demand as well as the needs of Arizona and Nevada.

Between January and March, usually a period with less demand for gasoline, most California plants go offline for so-called turnarounds, a combination of annual maintenance and the retooling necessary for the switch from a winter fuel formula to a summertime blend required by clean-air regulations.

This year, like last year, some refineries are hitting unexpected snags that have delayed the resumption of full gasoline production, said Claudia Chandler, assistant director of the California Energy Commission.

“If they don’t come out from turnarounds when they say they are, or they have problems, then the market reacts, because supply is thin,” said Chandler, who is prohibited from publicizing which refineries are struggling to produce. “This market is so volatile, any rumor, any problem, will send the market up.”

Valero Energy Corp. has delayed the restart of a unit at its Wilmington refinery, mechanical problems are understood to have crimped production at the Carson plant of Arco owner BP, and rumors have suggested there could be problems at other refineries too. Late last week, a power outage halted operations at Tesoro Petroleum Corp.’s Bay Area refinery, and it was unknown when full production would resume.

Only Valero and Tesoro have publicly acknowledged refinery troubles.

“We don’t have any refinery backup, we don’t have any storage backup, and in some cases we don’t have pipeline backup,” said David Hackett, president of Stillwater Associates, an Irvine consulting firm that has studied the California gasoline market. This year, he added, “It’s going to be Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.”

That ride, it seems, has already begun. In three days last week, the wholesale spot-market price of gasoline in Los Angeles jumped an unheard-of 60 cents in three days -- a bad omen for retail prices, since those kinds of increases are typically passed on to motorists.

Bob van der Valk, bulk fuels manager for Cosby Oil Co. of Santa Fe Springs, believes some of the wholesale increases have not yet hit retail pump prices.

“I think there’s another 5 cents in the pipe between now and the end of next week,” Van der Valk said of retail prices. “I’m predicting that we’ll be at or above $2 through the summer, until about the middle of September.”

Last year, the statewide average pump price exceeded $2 a gallon for eight weeks in March and April and again for four weeks in August and September, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.

Experts say gasoline supplies are unusually tight across the country, but only the West Coast suffered from double-digit increases. The nationwide average rose 4 cents to $1.688 for a gallon of self-serve regular, according to EIA figures.