A driver holds a fuel nozzle at a gas station in Sacramento, California. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg The US is running low on gasoline on the West Coast and in the Midwest, where prices are surging on the street, defying falling futures markets. Wholesale fuel prices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland have all reached record highs this week as a spate of unplanned refinery shutdowns compounded scheduled maintenance , at a time when seasonal stockpiles are already at their lowest level in 14 years. A similar dynamic is playing out in the Midwest, where a deadly refinery fire sent Chicago wholesale gasoline surging, matching its most expensive level ever relative to futures. Meanwhile, pump prices are rising again in many states, as is the national average, according to auto club AAA . Soaring fuel prices on the ground are in sharp contrast to what’s playing out in […]