Advertisement Gas prices to rise for Californian drivers Switching from winter fuel to summer fuel causing price spike Share Shares Copy Link Copy

In the coming days, Californian drivers will need to get ready to see a jump at the gas pump."It's been kind of nice how low the prices have been. I feel kind of spoiled,” driver Pamela Galvan said."This is when you fill up,” driver Christopher Stutes said.Gas prices are expected to rise quickly, by as much as 30 cents a gallon. Some drivers are left feeling like gas companies are taking them for a ride."I’m a college student and I work part time so it's tough but you just have to do it,” Sacramento State student Callie Zeringuv said. “You need gas either way."One reason for the sudden surge is oil refineries are changing from the winter blend of fuel to the more environmentally friendly summer blend."What we try to do is take advantage of that blend of fuel so there's not as much air pollution,” CEO of DrivingtheNation.com Lou Ann Hammond said. “It allows the gasoline to burn cleaner."Advocacy group "Consumer Watchdog" based in Santa Monica, California said the state's biggest oil refiners raised wholesale prices on that state-mandated summer blend by 37 cents overnight, and that's about to get passed along to drivers."That sucks for us, I guess,” Stutes said."I filled up for about $50 so now it'll be creeping back up to $60,” driver Josh Correa said. “It'll be a drag.""That's not too bad, it's still lower than it's been in the past two years,” Galvan said.Californians are already used to seeing some of the highest gas prices in the country, especially when fuel imports are low or oil refineries are taken offline. Those factors have driven up prices in the past to $3 even $4 a gallon."I think it's a little ridiculous. It makes me want to move somewhere else,” Zeringuv said."We are always higher. California is to the national average, but for our average we're still soaking in the sun,” Hammond said.