Harvey Spikes Gas Prices to Two-Year Peak
Gasoline prices continue to rise in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, reaching $2.59 per gallon as of the morning of Saturday, Sept. 2.
The price is up 16.7% since last year, according to the American Automobile Association, as Reuters reported. Between Friday and Saturday alone, the price rose 3% and already exceeds industry forecasts before the flooding took hold last week.
The national average could hit $2.79 a gallon in the upcoming week, according to oil price analysts Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy and Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service. In Dallas, some drivers are paying as high as $3.97 per gallon.
Prices jumped 10 cents in the past 24 hours in parts of Texas, Ohio, Georgia and the Mid-Atlantic states, according to the AAA. Analysts say Eastern U.S.—even as north as New York—could see long lines next week because of closed pipelines.
Exports could be contributing to the higher prices as some gas from the Northeast is being diverted to Florida.
Since the hurricane hit, the temporarily shuttered oil refineries--including the largest plant in the U.S., Motiva's facility in Port Arthur, Texas--will amount to losses of 4.4 million barrels per day of crude.
Gas stations and suppliers alike told Reuters they are working with a limited supply, but some pipelines have resumed operations, including Magellan Midstream Partners' BridgeTex and Longhorn crude oil pipelines. Stalled crude production is beginning to decline, with about 153,000 bpd still shut-in Friday, down from 324,000 bpd two days ago.
"There is enough gas out there," DeHaan told the Associated Press. "It's just a matter of getting it to the right places before motorists panic."
It's unclear when prices will return to normalcy, depending on how quickly the refineries recover and return to business.
In Texas, gas shortages have been primarily caused by panic buying, according to Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton.
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