Readers collect on friendly wagers over gas prices

QAt the end of the month, the average cost of gas in California was $2.75, which didn’t meet the drop to $2.54 you predicted, per our bet. I would like your $50 payout to be split evenly between Doctors Without Borders and California State Parks Foundation. Thank you so much for your donation!

Since you have been a good sport, I also will donate to a charity you have mentioned many times, the Second Harvest Food Bank.

— Dale Allison,

Sunnyvale

AI’m proud of you, folks. Nearly $5,000 that we know of is being sent to food banks and charities by readers spurred on by Dale’s bet.

QI have a diesel truck and cannot understand why the price of diesel fuel has not dropped nearly as much as gasoline. The price that refiners pay for crude oil has dropped dramatically since the COVID-19 outbreak, and gas prices have dropped by well over a $1 a gallon.

Yet diesel prices have hardly budged. My station’s price for diesel dropped by a whopping 10 cents a gallon. Since crude oil prices are near historic lows, what is going on?

Diesel taxes are higher. I understand. Diesel has to meet the ultra-low sulfur content. I understand. I also read that demand for diesel hasn’t dropped nearly as much as gasoline but is still down 30% to 35%. So why hasn’t the price dropped more than 10 cents?

— Michael Caine, El Sobrante

ADiesel is selling for $3.26 a gallon in California, down 85 cents from a year ago, while gas is running $2.75 a gallon, down $1.34 from a year ago.

Part of a barrel of oil that makes diesel also makes kerosene, jet fuel and home heating oil, and it’s easy to start seeing why there are higher prices for diesel.

From Severin-the-Energy guru:

“The answer has to do with the fact that gasoline and diesel are part of the same production process, and you can’t easily convert a refinery to make just one or the other.

“What happened is the demand for gasoline has dropped much more than the demand for diesel because people are driving their cars much less, but trucks are still delivering a lot of goods. That means there was a lot of extra gasoline flooding the market and pushing down prices, but not a lot of extra diesel. The result is AAA says in California diesel prices are down 85 cents from a year ago, while gasoline prices are down $1.34.

“Refineries have cut back substantially, but we still have a real excess supply of gasoline, not of diesel. I would expect to see the greater discount for gasoline last as long as the shelter in place is in effect.”

Join Gary Richards for an hourlong chat at noon today at mercurynews. com/live-chats. Look for Gary at Facebook.com/ mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@ bayareanewsgroup.com or 408-920-5335.