Now that Hurricane Gustav has made it through Cuba, and entered the Gulf of Mexico as a strong Category 3 storm – with sustained winds of 120 mph – it’s high time that you go out and fill up your car, truck or SUV.
Based on the current projected storm path, Gustav will very likely make landfall somewhere between Galveston, Texas and Gulfport, Mississippi. In terms of gas prices, this is important because this area of the Gulf Coast is home to many of the region’s oil refineries. These facilities account for nearly 40% of the United States’ refining capacity.
Keep in mind, when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the Gulf Coast region, it did so as a Category 3 storm. Should Gustav do as many forecasters are predicting and strengthen to a Category 4 before making landfall – meaning it would have sustained winds between 131 and 155 mph – chances are good that we could see even more damage to oil production facilities and refineries than what we did back in 2005. This certainly does not bode well for prices at the pump.
In the days following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline shot up by nearly 20 percent, and climbing above $3 for the first time ever. Should oil production facilities and refineries suffer similar damage from Hurricane Gustav, the price of gasoline would easily jump back above $4 per gallon, and would very likely shatter the record high prices set back in mid-July.
And, in the worst case scenario, where damage is even more catastrophic, we could see the national average gas price climb above $5. This would certainly have profound economic consequences, with many Americans already having a tough time with soaring food and energy costs.
See why it’s so important to go fill up now?
So, let’s hope for everyone’s sake – for those who live and work in the storm’s path, and for the rest of us who will be dealing with the fallout – that Gustav weakens over the Gulf’s open waters, and somehow does far less damage than what’s currently anticipated. In the meantime, to hedge your bets, go fill up your car now.
And of course they want to put more oil platforms in the same gulf right? We need alternative fuels and electric vehicles, not more vulnerable oil production in the path of these storms. What good is more drilling if they all are taken out when these storms roar through? Big Oil needs to be replace by other forms of energy for transportation.
We have all our eggs in one basket and we don’t even own the basket.
Actually this should not have that much of an increase as many of the refineries did not shut down, in fact Citgo, Conoco in Lake Charles continued operations, and in Pasedena Texas (near Houston) the refineries continue at full steam. The only evacuation was off the platforms which will be back in operation this week. Don’t over-sensationalize this, it’s nothing different from previous storms.
Gustav has weakened to a category 2, and oil has dropped accordingly.
You know we don’t need to jump from driving a tank to driving some hybrid vehicle. All we need to do is pick a vehicle that averages 25 MPG or better and that in itself would do wonders. In fact the way people drive these days a hybrid will not do anywhere near as well as it is advertised. As any hyper miler has shown. Its how you drive that’s more important in better MPG. I agree that its not possible to become energy self efficient again with oil. Even the so called fuel replacement such as ethanol uses fossil fuels to generate it. So it really provides very little in oil reduction. Baby steps would go a long way in making a dent.
Perhaps you can check your spelling before you submit your stories. It’s good you fixed the page, now fix the page title.
pylorns – I don’t think the concern was with the refineries being shut down for evacuation, rather there would be enough damage done to the refineries, and would in some way reduce their capacity for the foreseeable future.
Wow… looks like money talks. How much did the gas companies pay you to write this article, Brian?
Actually modern oil platforms are pretty safe and heavily designed. Do you recall any OMG big oil spills off of them after Katrina? It is in the corporation’s own interest to make sure that the rigs are safe for their people (not cheap to build) and safe for the environment (spills =lost profit &EPA fines)
They are even *good* for the environment since the pilings promote reef formation creating more habitat for the fish.
Not as much as I would have liked.
Fill up now? Wow… one gas tank. That’ll save you a whole 10 bucks or so.
Is it too much to ask to have the main headline spelled correctly..especially if it’s all caps’d and stating the obvious?
Here ya go… Monitor as you will:
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/energyprices.html
Why? Do you own stock in oil companies and want to drive the price up more? Everyone knows the oil companies drool over the idea of any excuse to drive up prices higher, they raise prices on fuel they have based on expected market prices making more $. Its time for government to lock the prices, period. Then your oil stocks won’t be worth more than my house every time the wind blows.
No, but considering the fact the last time this happened gas prices jumped quite a bit, it’s probably a good idea to fill up before things in the fan.
Sorry to disappoint you, but gas prices are going down – not up. Oil is trading down $3-4 at this minute. That will eventually mean gas prices will go down – not up.
Please people. Panic at the pump again? Doesn’t everyone recall how this jacked up gas prices, created unnecessary shortages at the pump, and spurred consumer gouging?
When are people going to learn to think for themselves?