Nevada gas prices reach yearly high, impacted by California production

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Gas prices in Nevada are the highest they’ve been all year and continue to climb. According to AAA, the current average for a gallon of regular is $5.06 in the Silver State. That’s up 60 cents from a month ago and 32 cents in a week. Nevada has the second highest gas prices of all 50 states only behind California and that’s where most of Southern Nevada’s gas comes from.

“This is the time we should be getting a break, right? We are used to more expensive in the summer and prices ease in the fall,” explained AAA Nevada Spokesperson John Treanor about traditional gas prices.

While the average for a gallon of gas in Nevada is now over $5 a gallon there are gas stations well above that in the Vegas Valley: $5.29 at Arroyo Grande and American Pacific and $5.36 on Magic Way near Boulder Highway.

“We have had this very steady incline in prices a little bit over a month now,” Treanor reported.

Nevada does not produce much of its own gas. It is brought in from Utah and California.

“Gas from Southern California really fuels Southern Nevada right now,” Treanor added. In California, the average is nearing $6 a gallon as refinery issues persist. According to Fox News, there have been refinery issues in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles area. A refinery in Torrance is shutting down several gasoline-producing units for maintenance.

“Refineries play a huge role…scheduled maintenance, unplanned maintenance, or weather, any of those factors will slow the production of refineries, slow the production of gasoline, and that means prices go up,” Treanor contended.

According to Fox Business, California refinery capacity is down by 9.5% since 2020. The problem is slated to get worse at the end of the year when Philips 66 shuts down its refinery in the Bay Area.

Nationally, weather this summer (both extreme heat across the country and hurricane season) brought prices up and now global supply is also having an impact.

“The price of crude oil globally is over $90. That’s expensive,” Treanor stated. Gas prices in Nevada could go higher still, but according to Treanor they will eventually come down.

“That decline will happen. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. We just don’t know how long this tunnel is,” Treanor asserted.

Though Nevada has again topped the $5 mark, gas is still down from the all-time high. That was $5.68 in June of 2022.

Copyright 2023 KVVU. All rights reserved.