Gas prices avert Hurricane Ida disaster



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Gasoline prices edged up Monday after Hurricane Ida shut down refineries along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast.

RBOB gasoline futures jumped 2.4 cents to $ 2.30 per gallon, retreating from their overnight high of near $ 2.37.

“The biggest impact we’re going to see will be on gasoline and diesel prices, which have only increased modestly this morning,” said Andrew Lipow, chairman of consultancy firm Lipow Oil Associates based in Houston.

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He added that gasoline stocks are “sufficient”, but that delivery delays could cause “sporadic blackouts” in the Southeast.

As gasoline prices rise in the futures market, this has yet to translate into higher prices at the pump. Although some stations raise prices immediately, it takes about three or four days to make itself felt regionally.

Retail gasoline prices saw a “slight increase” in the wake of the storm, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. Gasoline prices hit $ 3,151 per gallon nationally, from $ 3,148 on Sunday.

Flynn expects some refineries to be damaged, which could lead to them “shutting down for weeks,” leading to “price hikes.”

The Colonial Pipeline, which carries more than 100 million gallons of fuel per day, nearly half of the East Coast’s supply, has been shut down as a precaution.

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While the extent of damage to the Colonial Pipeline is not yet known, an extended shutdown of more than four or five days would cause gasoline prices to rise by as much as 10 cents per gallon, according to Lipow.

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