Blackout Could Lead to Surge in Gasoline Prices

Gasoline prices could jump by as much as 10 cents a gallon in the next few days as refineries shuttered by last week's blackout were slow to come back online, news services reported Monday.

About one-third of commercial trucking uses gasoline.

At the same time, fuel analyst Jacob Bournazian said that EIA does not "expect any movement in diesel prices" related to the blackout.

Seven North American refineries were shut down when the power failed on Thursday afternoon, and by Sunday only three had begun the gradual restart process that usually takes a day or two, the Wall Street Journal said.

Also affecting prices was news that three West Coast refineries have recently had unexpected production problems.

In addition, a pipeline from Texas that supplies one-third of Phoenix's gasoline ruptured late last month. That has caused prices to surge to near $2 per gallon, and forced many stations to shut down because they did not have any gasoline left, the Associated Press reported.

The blackout -- along with low gasoline inventories and increased driving demand rising -- means a late-summer price surge is very possible, the Journal said.

The average pump price nationwide has risen six cents in the past two weeks to $1.57 a gallon as stocks remain stubbornly low, according to the DOE’s Energy Information Administration.

Gasoline prices for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped in after-hours trading Thursday night to $1.03 a gallon from 98 cents, topping the $1 a gallon threshold for the first time in five months. It closed on Friday at $1 a gallon, Bloomberg reported.

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