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West Hills Fuel Vice President Scott Cain on efforts to rein in gas prices in California.
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Gas prices we've been telling you back in California driver's -- finally seeing some relief at the -- now the Governor Brown announced his dirty gas solution.
Refiners -- -- processing the cheaper and -- air winter blend three weeks early.
Permanent -- for sky high gas prices in California or is it just a little band -- joining me now so.
He's the vice president of West Hills fuel and gasoline -- -- Scott thank you so much for coming back on the -- and and tell me how things have changed for you in the past 24 hours.
While they settle down a little bit.
But as you said the motorized -- is just -- on the situation right now I'm I'm hope I'm happy that.
More gas is being brought to the market.
But.
We've got bigger problems than just winterize -- like -- -- -- from -- we've got an aging refinery network.
And a myriad of fuel regulations that require these refiners to produce.
Ever cleaner and cleaner fuel.
And it's just prone to failure as we've seen in the last week.
Prices went up seventy cents a gallon and now they've come back down seventy cents a gallon and the poor guy run at a service station is trying to figure out what to do.
You're also are you making many in this environment.
While all eyes I tell my customers all the time.
My margins of the same whether gas is two dollars a gallon or five dollars a gallon.
But the a -- -- fuels a lot more expensive than it costs lot more money to finance my operation at this point in time.
You like the middle of -- do you think the same thing is gonna happen next summer.
While it what's funny is you hear people use the phrase the perfect storm.
The problem is they've been using that phrase for the last.
A year or three or four times at what point do we -- from perfect storm to this is just business as usual.
And we can start looking for.
Be proactive instead a reactive.
Yet you know I saw a lot of people out there complaining of various news channels you they were so upset that the price of gasoline was so high it's eating into what they would spend.
On other things and I wonder.
You know did people in California sort of do this to themselves by voting for these -- standards and -- even real -- -- what do you think.
Well I think we realize it now.
Simple economics tells us that as you try to do any thing.
More and more like clean the air.
The more and more you try to clean the air the ever more expensive it becomes and his sister evidence of that.
That these refineries were -- years and years ago and probably never envisioned the kind of fuels that there were going to be producing.
And you know it's prone to failure of the Chevron refinery and not Richmond had a you know tremendous fire and who knows when they're gonna come back on line.
They produce about 10% of the State's supply.
So it's a very fragile system at this point in time.
-- north and I mean maybe this is what people in California want the president's own energy secretaries quoted many times as having said.
The price of gasoline needs to skyrocket in order for people to use alternative fuels.
I mean maybe this is what Californians want last last comment what -- bank.
Certain Californians I'm sure would like to see gas of five dollars a gallon I know my customers.
-- hardworking farmers in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Hate to see this especially right during the harvest time.
-- so that's not good all right thanks for coming on the show we appreciate your time.
Thing.
