Washington gas prices up 21 cents after California refinery fire. Will they surge again?

After a recent refinery fire at the Martinez Refining Company in California, Washington gas prices are up. In Washington, the average price of a gallon of gas surged by roughly $0.21.

“California has the most modern refineries of any of the coastal states — Washington, Oregon, and California. And when a refinery issue occurs in California, it does have a ripple effect on markets outside, and that’s what happened a [few] weeks ago. We saw a refinery fire,” GasBuddy’s Patrick DeHaan explained to KIRO Newsradio.

According to AAA, Washington saw an average $3.94 per gallon last month. The current statewide average is $4.15 per gallon. The price keeps Washington with the third highest price of gas, second to California at $4.84 and Hawaii at $4.54. The national average is $3.15.

Washington gas prices may also stay high, or see additional increases, over the never several weeks because of seasonal maintenance.

“This is also the time of year that refineries began seasonal maintenance, which is one of those necessary evils ahead of the summer to make sure that refineries have enough gasoline supply ready to go and to make sure the refineries are ready to run full tilt,” DeHaan explained.

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest