Gas Prices

California's average gasoline price set a record Saturday of $4.614 for a gallon of regular, up 12.8 cents overnight - but anyone who filled up in the last few days probably isn't surprised.  Gasoline prices skyrocketed after the Exxon Mobil refinery in Torrance was knocked offline Monday by a power outage. Other lingering refinery and pipeline problems also contributed to the soaring costs at the pump. Several service stations are charging more than $5 a gallon for regular gasoline.

Think you are being ripped off at the gas pump? One California lawmaker wants to give the public a place to contact with complaints of price manipulation or other shenanigans. Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has proposed creation of an Office of Fuel Price Investigation and Manipulation Prevention at the California Energy Commission. Leno said the new office would develop anti-fuel price manipulation standards, investigate potential incidents of illegal activity and recommend ways to reduce the volatility of gas prices in California, which last year saw some stations charge $5 per gallon.

Amid otherwise hopeful signs about the economy, the GOP presidential contenders are increasingly pointing to rising gas prices to criticize the president. Rick Santorum has recently taken to blaming Obama's "radical environmental policies" for the increase. Newt Gingrich, meanwhile, is now airing a 30-minute infomercial in Super Tuesday states outlining his strategy to return prices to $2.50 a gallon. "We paid $1.13 on average during the four years that I was speaker. When Barack Obama became president, we paid $1.89 that week," he says in the advertisement.

Some Southern California gas stations are charging more than $5 a gallon for gasoline. Gas prices have gone up so high and so quickly, some customers are snapping pictures at the pump or driving off in hopes that gas will cost less next week. LIVE VIDEO DISCUSSION: Join us at 3 p.m. today To examine why gas prices are suddenly so high, join us for a Google+ Hangout at 3 p.m. PDT with Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at the GasBuddy.com website, and Times energy editor Nancy Rivera Brooks.

There's a serious upside to high gasoline prices: a significant decrease in teenagers driving while drunk. The number of high school students who say they've gotten behind the wheel while drunk is down 54% from two decades ago, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, about 10.3% of teen drivers said they drove while intoxicated, down from 22.3% in 1991. A primary reason is simply that teenagers spent less time on the road. "Teens are especially sensitive to increases in gasoline prices and declines in economic conditions, which might have decreased their miles driven since 2007," the report said.

Soaring gasoline prices in California have sparked suspicions that the surge was brought on by more than refinery problems. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has called on federal regulators to determine whether “an illegal short squeeze” is responsible for the skyrocketing prices, which reached a record $4.668 on average for a gallon of regular gasoline. She is joining us for a live video chat at 3 p.m. on the issue with Times consumer columnist David Lazarus. We invite you to join in by leaving comments below.