Pain In The Gas: Heat and production cuts causing rise at the pump
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Talk about a pain the gas...well, if you've been to the pumps lately.
Prices seem to be rising like the thermometers lately but why?
We had the single biggest day increase this week and it's not over and it doesn't take the sun to get you hot under the collar about these prices, but...
"Several refineries are down partially because of the heat," said Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis.
De Haan pointed out that over half of our nation's refineries are sweltering right now in Texas and Louisana.
"Some of their sensitive equipment has been stripped offline," he explained. "We've seen brief power outages that, unlike your home when your router can just reset and five minutes later, you're back online - refineries are a little bit more delicate when it comes to getting this equipment back online."
Add in production cuts from OPEC of about 10-percent, and now according to De Haan, gas inventories are at their lowest levels going back to July 2015.
Mix in the height of summer driving season and it's a perfect storm, even without a hurricane.
"Average gas price in Pittsburgh is also starting to jump the average," he said. "Now, $3.78, that's up over 10 cents from a week ago and that's a trend that likely will continue. We could see prices going up another 10, maybe 20 cents a gallon. We could be on an upward trajectory for the next couple of weeks before markets cool off."
De Haan is hopeful that when the summer driving season cools in early September and we get out of summer gasoline blends, prices might retreat but hurricanes can still have a major impact and the hot weather in the south and in the Gulf is prime hurricane food, so to speak.
It's a budget buster especially if you still have a driving vacation ahead before school starts so if you're heading out - check those prices because you may be headed for cheaper gas which means wait to fill up.
