If the Bay Area wasn't expensive enough ... now the pricey gas blues

If the Bay Area wasn't expensive enough, now the already high price of gas is shooting skyward.

"On the week, all West Coast region states saw prices increase with California (+28 cents) seeing the largest spike, which drives the state average to $4.02 and is likely to push more expensive this week," the AAA reports.

While prices are up around the Bay Area and state, they are dropping in the rest of the country where the average is $2.65 a gallon.

“Crude oil prices have dropped close to where they were right before the drone attacks on the Saudi oil facilities,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. “This is helping to push gas prices cheaper in most of the country. Americans can expect this trend to continue, except for those filling-up on the West Coast, where refinery disruptions are causing spikes at the pump.” 

And there we have the explanation: There have been four shutdowns at refineries in Benicia and Rodeo locally, as well as in El Sugundo and Torrance in Southern California. In addition, state refineries are going offline temporarily as they transition from summer to winter blends of gas in adherence to air pollution rules.