Gas prices may be up 24 cents from last year’s average but compared to individuals on the east coast, drivers in Indiana won’t be seeing much of an impact from Hurricane Harvey at the pump. According to GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Daniel McTeague, Indiana’s gas prices are impacted by the Chicago Spot Market, not the New York Market.
This is important because there is a major difference. “The price impact of Hurricane Harvey and the flooding and on going outages of several refineries down there really affects the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.” McTeague said, “For us here in Indiana what happens in the Chicago spot market is important. For instance, it went up about 4 cents a gallon, whereas New York went up about 25 cents.”
McTeague said that drastic difference reflects the fact that much of the product that comes out of the affected Gulf Coast area typically makes its way to the states in the East rather than here to the Midwest. He is not expecting to see any major increases in this area any time soon.
However if the regions that are experiencing shortages have to start looking elsewhere for supply then there is a possibility local prices could go up. McTeague said there is no way to know right now if that could happen, it all depends on how long it takes for refineries to be rehabilitated.
