The end of summer fuel prices

The end of summer brings the wistful melancholy in all of us. You hardly hear a conversation that doesn’t include wishes that the long sunny days of trips to the beach, backyard barbecues and outdoor fun should last forever.

The end of summer also means the end of expensive summer fuel prices. Every summer, gas prices go up. That’s a given.

After all, more people use more gas in the summer. People travel more, or at least take day trips out of the city. It’s just basic supply and demand; the higher the demand, the more you can be charged for it.

Simple, right? There’s actually more to it than that. Most people don’t realize the actual product is different. “Summer blend” gasoline is different from the stuff sold in winter. Summer gasoline burns a little cleaner, but costs more to produce.

Why would gas be any different? Pollution. The combination of heat and increased vehicle use makes it a bigger problem in the summer. 1995’s Clean Air Act Amendments saw the formation of the “Reformulated Gasoline Program.” The purpose was to reduce pollution between June and September. 

Summer gasoline has different oxygenates than winter gas; namely, cleaner-burning fuel additives. In the spring, refineries must switch to summer-grade production. This coincides with the time refineries are cleaned, causing the gas prices to go up for another Economics 101 reason – scarcity.

When refineries shut down to clean up, they obviously stop producing gasoline. When the refineries start up again, they switch to producing summer-grade gas. 

At least there’s one benefit to the end of summer.