Welcome To The Collapse, Gas Shortage Begins In California, Gas Stations Closing, Video

More evidence of the systemic breakdown happening here is California. Gas shortages are happening to LA and is spreading to San Francisco. If you live in California it’s time to stock pile at least one tank’s worth of gas. You may not make it out…

Gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area including Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) are beginning to shut pumps as the state’s oil refiners started rationing supplies and spot prices surged to a record.

Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) stopped selling gasoline on the spot, or wholesale, market in Southern California and is allocating deliveries to customers. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) is also rationing fuel to U.S. West Coast terminal customers. Costco’s outlet in Simi Valley, 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, ran out of regular gasoline yesterday and was selling premium fuel at the price of regular.

The gasoline shortage “feels like a hurricane to me, but it’s the West Coast,” Jeff Cole, Costco’s vice president of gasoline, said by telephone yesterday. “We’re obviously extremely disheartened that we are unable to do this.

“Costco is a membership warehouse club with a relationship based on trust,” he said. “We’re not delivering what the members asked us to deliver, and that’s not acceptable to us. So we’re doing whatever we can to fix it.”.

  Independent gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area are beginning to shut their pumps because of supply shortages that have driven wholesale fuel prices to record highs.

Low-P, a gasoline station in Calabasas, California, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Los Angeles, stopped selling unleaded gasoline yesterday and ran out of high-octane and medium-octane fuel today, John Ravi, the station’s owner, said by phone. Ravi posted an “Out of Gasoline” sign on each pump and took down the prices outside his shop today, he said.

“I can get gas, but it’s going to cost me $4.90 a gallon, and I can’t sell it here for $5,” Ravi said. “If you come here right now, I’ve got some diesel left. That’s all. My market is open, but no gas.”

Spot, or wholesale, gasoline in Los Angeles has surged 70 cents this week to a premium of $1.15 a gallon versus gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the highest level for the fuel since at least November 2007, when Bloomberg began publishing prices there. On an outright basis, the fuel jumped to $3.9495 a gallon.

A Chevron Corp. oil pipeline shut down last month, an Oct. 1 power failure at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Torrance refinery and units down at other plants have cut supplies in the market.

Spot California-blend gasoline, or Carbob, in San Francisco surged 26 cents to $1.10 a gallon over futures, also the highest level since at least 2007, at 4:15 p.m. New York time.

‘Not Worth It’

“We’re going to start shutting pumps Friday,” Sam Krikorian, owner of Quality Auto Repair in North Hollywood, said by phone. “Gas is costing me almost $4.75 a gallon with taxes. There’s no sense in staying open. The profit margins are so low it’s not worth it.

But it’s not limited to Los Angeles or San Francisco.

. Now Irvine Ca. has gas stations shutting down as well…

I just talked to the lot guy for Costco that was keeping people out of the gas station, he confirmed my fear.

He told me a few fun facts.

1. The tanks in the station hold 30,000 gallons and auto shut off when the level goes under 1,000 gallons.

2. He told me that multiple Costco’s are out of gas.

3. He told me that two or three refineries are off line and that this could last for 3-6 weeks before they come back on line, he says that they have not told him when gas shipments start showing up again.

It’s hard to find gas in Irvine under $4.60 per gallon. Nearly $5 per gallon for premium and wore in L.A, I heard it was near $6 for Regular. it’s gone up nearly .50 here in 24 hours… at 2pm today it was $4.39 – now at 4pm it’s $4.59 Get your prepin’ done!

Read more here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-03/california-gas-stations-begin-to-shut-on-record-high-spot-prices.html

And Here: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/California-Gas-Stations-Begin-to-Shut-on-3917728.php#ixzz2BLYdLGpm