As noted in this Reuters news article, the highest gas prices in the nation are found in Lime Village, Alaska. They note the difficulties of shipping to such rural locales: there are no roads, and fuel travels by barge and then small plane. And while they mention the role Alaska’s small population, and the resulting lack of economies of scale, as part of the reason for this state having the highest gas prices despite the oil being pumped out of the ground here, they fail to mention another key factor. That is the lack of refining facilities; though we pump the oil out of the ground here, it has to be shipped to California or farther to be able to be refined into gasoline, and then shipped back as gas; this, of course, adds to the price.
Tags: Alaska, Gas Prices, Gas Refining, Gasoline, Lime Village, Oil, Rural, Shipping
