HOUSTON - Los Angeles wholesale gasoline spiked up 8 cents on Wednesday due to heavy buying by major West Coast refiners, according to traders.

Refiners were seen buying due to slower-than-expected restarts at San Francisco Bay-area refineries owned by Shell Oil Co (RDSa.L) and Tesoro Corp (TSO.N), both of which have been performing planned work on production units, trade sources said. (Reporting by Erwin Seba)