Drivers are dealing with a sharp spike in gas prices.
GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan says it’s due to several factors, all hitting at the same time,”The first being refinery maintenance. Hurricane Harvey caused some refineries to delay their maintenance,” he says, “and now we’re starting to see not only that delayed maintenance kick in, but planned maintenance.”
DeHaan says that wouldn’t normally be an issue, but some other problems have come up. “Gasoline can be sent from as far away as the Gulf Coast, where there are refineries,” he explains, “but the pipeline that connects the Gulf Coast to the Chicago region is down because of a leak. And that pipeline should be fixed here in the next few days but still limiting the flow of gasoline.”
He says all those issues have culminated in a report from the government showing that gasoline inventories in the Midwest are now at two-year lows. DeHaan expects that prices at the pump may slowly begin dropping next week.
