Summary

This correspondence provides information on (1) factors affecting retail gasoline prices in Oregon, including transportation costs, taxes, costs of full service, and other supply and demand conditions and (2) how gasoline price trends in Portland, Oregon, compare with trends in other West Coast cities. GAO identified several factors affecting gasoline prices in Oregon, including (1) higher-than-average costs associated with transporting gasoline from refiners to consumers because Oregon has no refining capability and a greater proportion of its gasoline demand comes from rural driving, (2) higher-than-average state gasoline taxes, and (3) a prohibition on self-service gasoline stations. GAO also found that although Portland's gas prices differ from those of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, all four cities responded similarly to rapid price changes. Retail prices in all four cities follow similar patterns with respect to major periods of price increases and decreases.