Gas Prices or Public Health?
By: Monte, October 19th, 2009
As you may or may not know, Friday September 25, 2009 was a day where the city of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas in the basin suffered from some of the worst air quality due to a refinery explosion in Wilmington, CA. Communities around Wilmington, San Pedro, Gardena, Del Amo and many others literally became ghost towns due to the toxic levels in the air, schools were mandated to keep their students and staff inside to prevent ingestion of the chemicals that have been spread around. However in San Diego, the only concern to those who live there is whether or not gas prices can stay the same. In the September 26, 2009 Los Angeles Times business article, the only concern to people’s health is the pit of their pockets.
As of Friday afternoon, the severity of the fire was still being assessed and the refinery was operating at reduced levels, Tesoro officials said.
“Before this fire, the price was about to drop like a rock,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service in New Jersey. Kloza said the Wilmington incident and a smaller fire at a Chevron refinery in Richmond in the Bay Area were particularly ill-timed for California consumers.
“Instead of falling sharply, the price will go back up,” Kloza said.
Another price expert, Bob van der Valk, said retail costs in California would jump by an average of a nickel a gallon in the short term, and perhaps more. But he also predicted a collapse in retail prices by the Thanksgiving holiday that he said would be brought on by low demand and increasing supplies.
“The national average will be around $1.75, and even California gasoline will be under $2 a gallon,” said Van der Valk, who tracks fuel prices for 4Refuel, which helps companies buy fuel more economically for their fleets.
Concerns over the magnitude of the fire damage also kicked oil higher during the trading day, but much of that earlier gain was lost. Crude oil futures for November delivery closed up 13 cents at $66.02 a barrel.
I hate to sound shallow but, the cost of a barrel of oil or gas could mean less right now, many others such as myself suffer from periodic symptoms of allergies and in Los Angeles you can experience an allergy attack 4-5 times each year. So at the end of the day you will not suffer the most from paying a few more dollars for gas, you will suffer due to dirty and polluted air as I did this past weekend.
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