Gas Rising, Station Owners Barrel Toward Bankruptcy

Fuel hits $4.41 a gallon in Los Angeles, and retailers aren't seeing the profit

By Dustin Lushing, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 10, 2008 12:24 PM CDT

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Gas Rising, Station Owners Barrel Toward Bankruptcy — A gas station employee places the number five on a sign as the price of a gallon of regular grade gasoline. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Stiff fuel prices are not pouring cash into the pockets of California gas station owners—instead, they're driving them into bankruptcy. Credit card fees, tanker-load costs, and other rapidly increasing expenses are putting the crunch on retailers, reports the Los Angeles Times.

In LA, where the average retail price is $4.41 a gallon (and the break-even price is $4.62 a gallon), some station owners are voluntarily going without pay to avoid collapse. "In the past four months, 10 of the dealers to whom I supply motor fuel have relinquished to me the deeds to their businesses," a supplier told Congress last month. (More gas stories.)

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