Forgive me if links to the "Gas Temperature Map" maintained by the GasBuddy site appeared in the diaries by Jerome a Paris or the other Kossacks who have written on the subject recently. Oregon ballots have gone out through the mail and voting has begun (to conclude May 20th), so I've been busy lately. Also, if I had seen one of the other diaries on gas prices posted today, I would have appended this link in a comment.
I found the national county-by-county graphic of average prices for regular unleaded so interesting that I wanted to bring it to your attention. I'll mention a few reasons why I found it interesting below the fold, but I'd like to hear what reaction others have.
Here, above the fold, is the link to the USA map (Canadians, there's one for you, too): Gas Temperature Map .
First, I like graphics and maps of all kinds.
The oil companies tell us that because California has imposed additional requirements for formulating gas, to deal with air quality problems, we should expect higher prices in that state.
But they also claim that the costs of transporting gas from refineries to stations and other delivery points vary, and that we should expect higher prices in counties located farther from the refineries (or from central distribution points).
And, I suppose the most important claim the oil companies make is that DEMAND accounts for variations in gas prices.
Aside from California, I don't see where variations in average prices for regular unleaded gas follow either the transportation cost or the demand explanation. The link I posted above also includes the state of Oregon, if you scroll down, but you can click on your state or province from this page on the GasBuddy site: Click from this list of states and provinces .
On the Oregon map (and I'm posting this diary during the Pacific time zone morning, so that my brother and sister West Coast voters might see it), the prices in both Multnomah and Jackson counties, where I-5 enters or leaves the state, are much higher than the rest of the state. You might expect demand to be greater in urban Portland (Multnomah County), even though there's high use of our mass tranport and we have so many bicycle commuters, but that doesn't explain why adjoining Clackamas and Washington counties, containing populous suburban and satellite urban centers, are lower.