Hi All: I wanted to add that WTI futures have fallen below $60/bbl just as the Saudi's have stated they will increase supply and the Trump Admin has declared there will be no trade with anyone importing "any" oil from any Iranian oil exporter. There was no inside baseball with these two announcements in consecutive days, right? Let us all hope the fuel price decline will take some of the pressure off employers to lay off their workers employed via the Administration's self-inflicted economic slowdown. Wayne
Hi All: A late afternoon call to go to LAX and I was on my way. Along the way, I had a lot of station choices in low 4s and high 3s to choose from near or along my route. I chose this Sam's before reaching LAX and good thing too. I was stuck at a cargo facility with an incomplete Dangerous Goods Declaration (DGD) and was stuck there for almost 3-hours while that was fixed. Sam's and Costco's were long closed by the time I actually departed after midnight. While sky high vs most of the country, finding a sub $4 price in California is always welcome. 05-01-2025 - Gardena, CA - Sam's Club - $3.959. Wayne
Hi All: With a RT drive to San Diego early this morning and another to the US/Mexico border and back out to LAX and back this afternoon, another half tank refuel was on the dance card. This time, a Top Tier fuel Costco just outside of LAX. 05-03-2025 - Hawthorne, CA - Costco - $3.959. Despite Oil price futures collapsing and sitting at $58.38/bbl, I am not seeing the normal fall in fuel prices anywhere in the country unfortunately. Yet anyway. Wayne
Hi All: I had to run out to Bakersfield the other day and damn, fuel prices have not come down even a penny despite oil trading in a $57 to $63 range over the past month. On the way out, a quick stop to refuel enough for the RT. On the way back, a full top off because it is a lot more expensive in San Diego than LA County right now. June 25, WTI Futures Price action. 05-10-2025 - Norwalk, CA - Costco - $4.099 05-10-2025 - Norwalk, CA - Costco - $4.079 Even more problematic for California is the closure of three key refineries in the state. I have posted about the Chevron refinery closing and two more have popped up since then. Chevron is relocating its headquarters from San Ramon, California to Houston, Texas, and while the company has not officially announced the closure of its Richmond refinery, the possibility is being discussed. Chevron is also attempting to restart its El Segundo refinery, but has not confirmed it will stay in operation. The Benicia refinery, operated by Valero, is also facing potential closure, and the Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles is scheduled to shut down by the end of 2025. Reasons for Closures California's policies, including regulations on emissions and a low-carbon fuel standard, have been cited as reasons for the refinery closures. The closure of these refineries could impact California's gasoline production capacity and potentially lead to much higher fuel prices lead to a 75% increase in gas prices by 2026, potentially reaching as high as $8.40 per gallon by the end of 2026!!! California regulators are considering changes to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) designed to decrease the carbon intensity of California's transportation fuel. To put it bluntly, California has finally gone to far and the majors are now pushing back. California Governor Newsom has taken steps to encourage oil refineries to remain open in California, including signing legislation requiring minimum fuel inventories and directing a regulator to work with refiners. He has also expressed the belief that refineries can operate profitably in California, even as demand for gasoline gradually declines due to massive EV adoption. In 2024, California's zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) market share was around 25.3%, which is a slight increase from the 25% in 2023. While the state is on track to meet its goal of 35% zero-emission sales by 2026, the current sales numbers are still below the target. The average price for regular gas in California is currently $4.922/gallon. While some areas in California are experiencing higher prices than the national average, the national average has also increased recently despite much lower oil costs as outlined above. Wayne
Hi All: I am in a 2025 Lexus UX 300h hybrid F-Sport or Cute Ute as I deem it. I had to complete an initial top off and complete the calibration fill to come up with an aFCD offset which I will use later for the Speed vs FE graph. In any case, fuel prices are not falling by any means in California. This Mohsen in Oceanside, CA <-- Top Gun #1 fame, is about the lowest price in all of San Diego County. 2025 Lexus UX 300h Hybrid F-Sport 05-16-2025 - Initial top off fill with aFCD and Trip A reset. 05-16-2025 and 05-17-2025 - Oceanside, CA - Mohsen - $4.229. 05-17-2025 - Final aFCD calibration top off fill - 335.0/ miles indicated/actual on 5.767 gal. = 59.3/58.3 mpg indicated/actual for a 0.983 result. -- aFCD indicated * 0.983 = aFCD actual. After this afternoon's calibration top off, I completed the 90.0 mile Odometer calibration drive for the aFCD offset above: 90.0 miles indicated, 90.3 miles actual. Wayne
Hi All: I had to refuel the 2025 Lexus UX 300h before it was driven away earlier this morning and this is San Diego county residents everyday refueling experience. A lot more if they are not Costco members! 05-19-2025 - Vista, CA - Costco - $4.299 PS: This image broke my self imposed 1.5 GBs of upload max space for an individual user. I doubled it so we should be good for a few more years. Wayne
Hi All: I had a pickup in San Diego that was headed to LAX last night. San Diego is where the highest fuel prices are outside of the California desert cities are but their is a small area in the OC to LA that the Long Beach refinery's feed. GB showed two Costco's at $3.99 so that is where I was heading before ending up at LAX. Costco fuel stations are now open until 09:30 to 10:00 PM in southern California and I need every second as I was down to 68-miles DTE and the Costco was 77 miles away. In addition, I only had 15-minutes to spare to arrive at the low cost Costco before it closed so there was a slim chance of pulling in and adding a gallon somewhere along the way. I arrived at this Irvine, CA Costco with 13-minutes to spare and DTE of 3-miles still showing. There is still ~ .5 gal left at 0 DTE so I had some room to run. Fuel prices have dropped ~ $0.10/gal over the last two days so that helped a bit. With wholesale RBOB gasoline priced at $2.149, to see these $4.00 + per gallon stations still hurts. 05-20-2025 - Irvine, CA - Costco - $3.999 Wayne
I just paid $2.919 at the Exxon down the street. First time I've seen it under $3 near my house in years.
Hi All: Given it is the Holiday weekend and I was not sure I could pick up a job heading into LA for the sub $4/gallon California fuel or even out east to Escondido, CA where there was a Costco at $4.09 per this morning, I settled on a Costco coming back from the San Diego AP this morning. Not great but she is topped off, a fresh oil change this afternoon, and she is ready to roll ... Again. 05-25-2025 - San Diego, CA - Costco - $4.239 Hyper Tough HD Vehicle Ramp Set - 12,000 LB GVW - $49.99 plus tax from your local Walmart. Wayne
Hi All: Yesterday evening I had to run out to Lancaster, CA and along the way, I pass all of those Costco's along the 5 or 405 in the OC and LA that offer some of the lowest fuel prices in the Golden State. Lowest prices here are like the highest you have ever paid most anywhere else outside of possibly Washington and Oregon. 05-20-2025 - 15-minutes before the close in Tustin, CA - Costco - $3.999 Wayne
Hi All: Last fill of the month of May and this time while visiting family in San Bernardino County, in Ontario, CA. There were three Costco's at $3.859 so it was an easy choice. Pick one closest to my route adn this Costco was just .3 miles off the 10. Great to refuel at < $4.00 out here in Southern California again. 05-31-2025 - Ontario, CA - Costco - $3.859 Wayne
Hi All: I refueled this week’s review ride with an initial top off for the aFCD calibration, the 2025 Toyota Prius Prime XLE. 06-05-2025 - Hawthorne, CA - Costco - $3.929 The notoriously tough to top off, 5th gen Prius being topped off... Notice the $3.949 price on the canopy but it was lowered by $0.02 at the pump just moments before. Wayne
Hi All: I completed the 2025 Toyota Prius Prime's odometer study and aFCD calibration with a refuel in Tustin, CA. 06-07-2025 - Tustin, CA - Costco - $3.999 2025 Toyota Prius Prime XLE That dent above the passenger right front fender body panel was there when it arrived. And the odometer study? 109.4 miles actual vs 106.2 miles actual. This is a rather large 3.0% positive odometer offset. And the aFCD study concludes with an unusual positive offset mostly due to the odometer offset. The 5th gen Prius and Prius Prime is tough as you can never be sure a top off has occurred without a top off, drive for a block with a few hard braking scenarios and top off again. In any case, I did the best I could at the two Costco top offs. 330.5 miles at 64.6 mpg indicated - 340.4 miles actual on 5.147 gallons top off to top off = 66.1 mpg actual vs 64.6 mpg indicated or a positive 2.3% offset. I am a little concerned with the large 2.3% aFCD positive offset due mostly to the XLEs 19's providing a 3.0% positive mileage offset. Given the 5th gen Prius' tough top offs, maybe I was shorting the fuel but regardless, the results are the results for the upcoming Speed vs FE data I will collect possibly tonight after midnight. Wayne
Hi All: I had to run out to Asuza, CA early yesterday morning and had just enough fuel to make it to a Costco in Irvine, CA just a few minutes after it opened. DTE when I arrived? Negative 4 miles. 06-14-2025 - Irvine, CA - Costco - $3.959 And on the way back, I had to go to LAX and just outside is that inexpensive Costco in Hawthorne. I topped off here before heading back to San Diego. 06-14-2025 - Hawthorne, CA - Costco - $3.919 Wayne
Hi All: I had to run out to Pomona, CA the other day and on my way back, this great priced Costco popped up along my route. 06-19-2025 - Fullerton, CA - Costco - $3.779 <-- Great price for CA currently. By comparison, I had to add 2-gallons to Marians' Sonata Hybrid at $4.139 at a local Costco in Vista, CA the following day so she had enough fuel to make it to Yuma, AZ. She topped off in Yuma at $2.999 after I had her install the Love's App and that station with the $0.10/gal deal is the best in Yuma. Usually. It was when she refueled there two days ago. 06-20-2025 - Vista, CA - Costco - $4.139 Wayne
