California gas prices headed up again...

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Article Is Slightly Misleading

For accounting purposes, capacity is calculated to include the planned downtime for major maintenance events.
The number used is 92%, or 48 weeks.
Then, burden (variable operating costs per unit of production) is based on 95% uptime, at 95% of nameplate throughput.
There is, and always has been, excess capacity and I think NPR either didn't understand these things or fell for somebody's doublespeak.
There is no shortfall of supply here in the Midwest. In fact there's still unused capacity.
I'd be hard to convince it's substantially different anywhere else in North America.
I think the issue is still manipulation at the market stage to protect long term future holders that overreacted in the recent past.
If we're looking at refiners & trying to apply simple supply & demand principles, we'll never figure out what's really causing the disconnect between crude & refined prices.