Basics of how gasoline is produced, priced, distributed, etc in California.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/gasoline_q-and-a.html
Premium was $2.97 a week ago at the Arco nearby, today it was $3.17, less of a jump than I had feared - wait 'till he gets his next delivery, I guess. Of course, last week I paid the $0.06 extra for the Shell across the street - I think Arco's not good gasoline - and this week I went for the cheaper Arco rather than $3.23 at Shell.
Almost all of our gasoline is refined in-state, so I'd hope the shut-down Gulf Coast refineries won't affect us too much. Of course we'd feel the roughly 10% jump in crude oil over the past week or so.
I'm sorry to admit it, but my wife and I are keeping our cars above 3/4 full now. With the price rising, I want to replace each gallon of gasoline as early as possible.