Bay Area drivers are getting walloped at the pump, with some paying upwards of $150 to fill up their tanks as gas prices surge across Northern California.Fresh data from the American Automobile Association shows every Bay Area county now averaging more than $5 a gallon, turning routine fuel stops into painful wallet-drainers.At roughly $5.50 per gallon, a driver filling up a 27-gallon SUV tank can expect to shell out about $148 to $150 for a full tank, the data shows.
Even smaller cars aren’t escaping the sting. Filling a 15-gallon sedan at those prices now costs roughly $80 to $85.
At one Chevron station in Menlo Park — where the average cost per gallon stood at $5.54 per gallon on Friday — motorists were shocked to find prices climbing above $7.
“Can it be worse? I don’t know if it can,” a driver told KRON 4. “Moving to California a couple years ago, it’s the craziest it’s been.”One pump at the station showed a final sale topping $147.
“That’s ridiculous, man,” another driver told the outlet. “I can’t.”AAA’s latest county averages show some of the priciest gas in the region clustered around San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
The spike has left many drivers stunned, especially in a region already known for some of the highest fuel prices in the country.
Across California, the statewide average recently climbed to roughly $5.29 per gallon, according to the AAA data, after jumping sharply in recent days.
That’s far above the national average. Drivers across the United States are paying around $3.63 per gallon, meaning Bay Area drivers are paying nearly $2 more per gallon than much of the country.
Energy analysts say several forces are pushing prices higher, including rising global oil costs, refinery constraints and California’s specialized fuel standards, which often make prices spike more dramatic in the state than elsewhere.
Drivers pay a “California premium” loaded with higher than average state excise and sales taxes, as well hefty fees for climate programs unique to the state.
The state also requires an eco-friendly more costly fuel blend designed to prevent pollution.
Last week, oil giant Chevron warned in a doomsday letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom that the state will face economic collapse under his “misguided” climate policies.
State lawmakers also warned that Newsom’s green agenda risks sending the price of gas above $8 a gallon — potentially returning drivers to fuel rationing not seen since the 1970s.
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