>>>>>CA refinery product network is isolated from other parts of USA mostly because of stringent environmental requirements. As a result CA customers may rely only on products made in CA, and limited supply market causes higher prices. By similar reasons HI has the highest gas price in the country (CA is close second).
>>>>
>>>>I'd have to say that limited supply markets don't actually cause high prices, Greed does that. Limited supply markets are just an excuse for it.
>>>>
>>>I prefer to stay within economical categories. Have you ever heard about free market? Someone may say that it caused by greed. So what?
>>>There are two factors defining prices in free market: supply and demand. If you put limits on supply (doesn't matter for what reason, it could be a concern about greed) then price goes up (or, as some greed fighters learned in other countries, the product disappears).
>>
>>There is a third factor - competition. In the oil industry, I contend there is no competition. If there is, then it is certainly a heck of a coincidence that the price of gas at the pump is the same, to the tenth of a cent, everywhere in the city.
>
>No competition? Do you mean that certain company controls the market?
>Btw, gas price differs in each gas station, but generally people don't care about few cents difference; this indicates that gas price is not so high as could be assumed by moans and groans.

I'm not sure what you're saying. I can drive around for an hour and every gas station will have exactly the same price posted - to the tenth of a cent.

No, it's not one company, but in spite of all the so called investigations, I still believe the various companies collude.