CALIFORNIA'S GAS PRICE BOARDS RUN OUT OF SPACE

Some California diesel pumps have stopped showing a price, not out of shame, but because they literally maxed out the price boards. GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan posted Thursday that five stations in the state had maxed out at $9.999 a gallon, the highest figure the dispensers can display. He noted that at that price California's diesel sales tax is pulling $1.30 a gallon for the state, then summed up his own findings with one word: "yuck." The count would not sit still. Fox 11 got him on the record at six stations, with locations in Santa Clara, Serra Mesa, San Jose and Paso Robles. De Haan later told the Daily Caller News Foundation that some of those $9.999 readings were stations flagging themselves out of diesel, which is how GasBuddy users signal a dry tank, and his confirmed count came down to three stations actively selling $10+ gas. Three maxed-out pumps is still three maxed-out pumps, and the averages are not helping. EIA put on-highway diesel at a record $5.97 a gallon, $1.97 higher than a year ago and past the old $5.81 record from June 2022. California sat at $7.76 by EIA on September 9 and $7.91 by AAA on the 10th, roughly 70% above January. Still a small price to pay to not be seen riding in a Tesla. 24/7 Wall St. pins the squeeze on U.S. refineries running near 98% capacity, Strait of Hormuz disruptions, and recently escalating Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries.

Why you should give a shit: You probably drive a car...