re: WSJ: Why Gasoline Prices Are Rising Faster Than Usual This Year

Refineries are usually down in late winter for turnarounds, maybe not the entire refinery but parts of them are.

Russia really has little effect except maybe the Northeast US which used to import gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from Russia. It was cheaper than transport by ship from the Gulf Coast. Also crude oil was cheaper transported from overseas than by rail or ship from within the USA.

Interesting tidbit when I was at Shell in SoCal in the early 90's. Shell staff told us that at the end of summer there was a surplus of premium so it was being sold as regular for the price of regular to get rid of summer stocks.

The less pollution has to do with vapor pressure. They cannot blend some butane in with summer blends due evaporation "pollution"