California's pump price is almost a parallel market. The state mandates a unique CARB-blend gasoline that only a handful of refineries can produce, layers on the highest excise + sales taxes in the country, and adds cap-and-trade plus Low-Carbon Fuel Standard fees — collectively $1.50–$1.80 per gallon above the U.S. average. With Phillips 66 (Wilmington) and Valero (Benicia) refineries shutting down through 2026, the state is increasingly reliant on tanker imports — fragile and slow to respond to demand spikes. Implication for cross-border logistics: trucking, distribution, and last-mile costs into California run measurably higher than into Texas / Houston — a reason many B2B distributors choose Texas as the entry point and serve California regionally rather than warehouse there.