The shock waves from the Russian invasion of the Ukraine have sent gas prices to record highs in Manteca.

Prices have breached the $5 per gallon mark in a big way reaching a high of $5.39 Wednesday night at the Chevron station at South Main and Mission Ridge Drive.

The Chevron at Yosemite and Spreckels Avenue wasn’t far behind at $5.05.

The South Main Chevron pump price was $1.02 higher than at the Sinclair station on East Yosemite Avenue east of Powers Avenue that as of 8 p.m. Wednesday was the lowest priced gas in Manteca at $4.37 a gallon. Sinclair started the day out with gas priced at $4.17 a gallon making it at the time the cheapest gas in the Stockton area based on postings on Gas Buddy.

The Sinclair station was selling gas at $3.89 a week ago.

The $5 per gallon price had the effect of chasing off customers at the two Chevron stations. Neither had cars at their pumps or even parked to access convenience stores.

Across the street from the South Main Chevron, it was a different story at the Arco that was selling gas for $4.39 a gallon, a full dollar less than Chevron. There were seven cars at the Arco pumps.

A quick rundown of prices at a number of other Manteca stations during the 8 p.m. hour on Wednesday included gas at $4.35 at the Circle K on South Main, $4.37 at Diamond at Yosemite and Powers, $4.89 at the East Yosemite Shell at Northwoods Avenue, $4.99 at the Valero on Yosemite Avenue east of Highway 99 and $4.49 at the Arco across the street from the Valero.

To put the $5.39 price at the South Main Manteca Chevron in perspective, gas was reportedly selling for almost $7 a gallon at Furnace Creek in Death Valley on Monday.

The average gas price in California on Wednesday was $4.87 a gallon while nationally it was at $3.61 a gallon. The national average is up 26 percent since February and $1 in the past year.

The surge in price pumps couldn’t have come at a worse time for California motorists. March is when the state’s refineries start switching over to a summer blend of reformulated gas that produces less emissions. Not only is “summer” gas more expensive to refine but the switch often involves a refinery going off line for a day or so. Typically, motorists will see as much as a dime jump in prices.

47 percent of oil used

in California comes

from foreign soruces

Experts are anticipating around a $1 a gallon boost in gas prices as the result on the war in the Ukraine.

That means gas at some urban locations could shoot up as high as $6 a gallon in the coming weeks.

The United States is the world’s largest oil producer but it still imports oil from Russia. In 2021 the United States imported 209,000 barrels of crude oil a day or 3 percent of the nation’s consumption.

Part of the reason why prices in the United States are being hit hard — especially in California — has to do with the supply line for crude oil to refineries.

It is especially stark in California where in 2020 — based on California Energy Commission data — 47.54 percent of the crude oil used in the state came from foreign sources, 34.9 percent from California oil fields, and 17.6 percent from Alaska.

California is the seventh largest oil producing state in the country at 144 million barrels in 2020 after Texas, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Alaska in that order.

There are 10 refineries in California that produce gasoline for vehicles. The state’s air quality rules make it less expensive to refine cleaner burning light crude that typically comes from areas such as the Middle East.

The increase in gas prices will create a windfall for cities, counties and the states.

The $1 increase at Chevron means drivers are paying 8.25 cents more in sales tax. In Manteca that means a cent goes to the city’s general fund, a half cent for Measure M public safety staffing in Manteca, a half center for Measure K for San Joaquin County road and transportation projects and the remaining 6.25 cents to the State of California.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com