California Diesel Prices Soar

August 17, 1999 11:00 AM, EDT

The price of fuel shot up nearly 6 cents in California last week, pushing the national average for diesel to a 20-month high and prompting the California Trucking Association to ask the state government to order a price rollback.

The force of the price explosion was felt across the country. California's 5.7-cent increase, to $1.496 a gallon, drove the West Coast regional average up 4.3 cents to $1.364

On the national level, retail diesel rose a full penny to $1.156 a gallon as of Aug. 9. That is the highest price reported by the Department of Energy since the $1.162 posted Dec. 12, 1997.

The latest California price rise was blamed on problems that have plagued the state's oil companies for months. Nine refineries are the sole producers of California diesel, which by law is lower in sulfur and aromatics than national standards, and a series of refinery fires since February has hampered production.

The California Trucking Association accuses the ol companies of using the production shortfall "as a cash cow" and urges the state's attorney general to invoke a state law designed to prohibit profiteering in times of emergency.

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