'Save-your-ass gas': inside the remote California station where fuel is $6 a gallon

[brooklynite]

The Guardian

he Najah’s Desert Oasis gas station appears on the horizon like a mirage, the only fuel stop in a stretch of nearly 100 miles of mountains and desert in this remote part of south-eastern California. The numbers listed on its sign can evoke a similar feeling of disbelief.

$6.39 a gallon for regular, the display read on Tuesday.

Prices at the gas station, located along historic Route 66, are among the most expensive in the United States, high even for California.

The Golden state has long had the highest gas prices in the country. This week, they hit a new record amid fuel shortages and increased demand, recording an average price per gallon of $4.68.

Prices at Najah’s Desert Oasis have always been higher than average, workers say, because getting anything delivered this far out – fuel included – is expensive. The station only recently got electricity after running on diesel generators for much of its 25 years.

[bcool]

1. $6.65 at the only station in Furnace Creek (Death Valley) last week

Yikes!

[moonscape]

2. I'm sure it's a lot more in

Gorda, a little place along the central coast. Checked Gas Buddy but nobody has reported which isn’t surprising. It’s a distance from another station by a few lonely miles, and if you don’t know to gas up in advance and are a tourist caught unawares on that stretch of coast, then you’re undoubtedly glad to get out of your jam at any price.