Motorists may see some relief at the gas pump soon as refineries impacted by recent winter storms are expected to begin normal operations, AAA reports.
AAA reported Feb. 22 U.S. motorists were filling-up to some of the most expensive gas prices seen in more than a year. Forced shutdown of Gulf Coast and other refineries in the nation’s mid-section from last week’s winter weather, led to a drop in gasoline stockpiles and higher retail prices.
For the week, 66% of state averages spiked by double digits, between 10 cents and 22 cents, AAA said. That raised the national average up by 13 cents to $2.63, which is the most expensive national average since October 2019.
“When close to 40% of U.S. crude production is offline because refineries are closed, there is going to be pain at the pump until operations resume,” said Jeanette Casselano McGee, AAA spokesperson. “The good news is the nearly two dozen impacted refiners are expected to restart operations this week, if they haven’t already (so) that means regular gasoline deliveries will resume and impacted stations will be re-fueled.”
In Indiana, the average price for regular unleaded Feb. 22 was $2.63, up from $2.47 last week and about 30 cents more than a month ago.
During the week of Feb. 14, refinery outages were reported in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kansas.
AAA said has prices are likely to remain volatile until production returns to normal, so motorists can expect high prices to remain though large spikes are likely to subside.
