Gasoline prices are up throughout Western New York, as they are across the state and country.
In Buffalo, the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline stands at $2.76 on average, up 11 cents from a week ago, according to AAA of Western and Central New York. Rochester’s price of $2.77 is up 10 cents from last week.
The New York State average is $2.83, up 35 cents in two weeks and up five cents from last week. A year ago, the NYS average was $2.32. Nationally, the price stands at $2.67 per gallon, up 30 cents over the past two weeks and up four cents in the past week. One year ago, the price was $2.18.
Gas Prices Continue to Climb during Aftermath of Harvey and due to Irma. After Harvey knocked out a quarter of the U.S.’s refining capacity, gas prices have increased across the country. It looked like prices were beginning to level out, as refineries that were impacted by the storm restart operations and gasoline supply chain issues caused by the storm begin to subside.
On the flip side, as the southeastern U.S. gets hit by Irma, gas prices are likely to continue climbing throughout the region. Drivers in Florida and the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina flocked to gas stations last week to fill up gas tanks. This unexpected trend in demand has placed a greater strain on gasoline supply in that region.
It is important to note that price increases seen across the country do not reflect a shortage of gasoline supplies, but rather are reacting to the inability to transport fuel out of the Gulf Coast and into other areas, as well as limited production of refined products like gasoline as the refineries attempt to resume activity to pre-storm operations. Once all of the Corpus Christi and Houston refineries are up and running, power restored and roads cleared, gasoline will be able to be transported to areas of Texas and the southeast in need of fuel.
For Hurricane Irma, oil refinery and pipeline shut downs are not a major concern since there are no facilities in Irma’s current projected path through Florida. Instead, gasoline supply and distribution are top of mind. Port Everglades, which is the main seaport servicing South Florida with petroleum products, stated that it has at least a week of fuel stored on-site. However, according to the Port’s website, “port petroleum operations may be interrupted in the event of storm damage to Port facilities or the entrance channel for ships.”
All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
We appreciate your readership. We like money, too.