Fuel prices per gallon rose as much as 15 cents in the last 24 hours, Photo: YouTube
(Newswire.net — September 4, 2017) –The average gasoline price in the United States rose from $ 2.45 per gallon to $ 2.52, The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) announced on Friday, September 1st.
At least two pipelines – one going through the South of the United States to New York, and the other heading north to Chicago – are working slower or have stopped working due to floods and the following damage.
Fuel prices per gallon rose as much as 15 cents in the last 24 hours in a few counties, among which are Dallas and El Paso in Texas, Athena in Georgia and Dayton in Ohio, while the expenses went up as much as 10 cents in South Carolina, Ohio, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Texas.
Part of the pipeline which goes through Texas is closed and before reopening it a few inspections are to be had, said the official of the Colonial Pipeline Company.
With the rise in prices, there have been records of people queuing for gas in a few cities, because some of the gas stations are out of fuel. One Chevron gas station was selling fuel at 2,29$ per gallon before the Hurricane, and on Thursday, August 31st, they charged 2,99$, while a Shell gas station charged 3,97$ for a gallon of regular fuel.
Experts, however, do warn buyers not to panic.
If people start buying fuel on a large scale out of fear, as some did in Texas, it will only worsen the problem and help raise gas prices even more, while the shortages of fuel will be greater, says the analyst Patrick DeHaan for the GasBuddy.com.
Tom Kloza, director of global energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service, said to CNN that “retailers can either go out of business or pass their costs along.”
He predicted that refinery shutdowns will lift per-gallon gas prices by 15 to 25 cents nationally, up from his earlier estimate of up to 20 cents.
CNN also wrote that the eventual impact to gas price increase is likely to be limited by the U.S. shale oil boom. Strong levels of oil production have left the country with ample stockpiles of gas and oil that can cushion the impact of Hurricane Harvey.