Ike Cause Gas Prices to Jump

Over the past two days, the price of gas has jumped nearly five percent — or just under 20 cents — thanks to the damage caused by Hurricane Ike to Texas area oil refineries.

Even though nobody’s particularly happy about the jump in gas prices, things certainly could have been a lot worse.  For example, today’s national average gas price of $3.83 is up just slightly over the past week ($3.65) and month ($3.77).

However, it’s not as if all news is good news: today’s gas price is nearly 40% higher than it was at this time last year ($2.78).  Also, there are now 11 states reporting an average gas price above $4 per gallon.  Of these 11 states, seven are located in the southeastern part of the country.

So far, the damage caused by Hurricane Ike certainly pales in comparison to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina – damage which cost billions of dollars, and caused the price of gasoline to shoot up nearly 20% in the span of just a few days.

But it’s not as if Hurricane Ike passed through Texas without having some effect to the Gulf Coast and it’s refineries.  According to an article published on CNN Money, nearly a quarter of the United States’ oil refineries have been shut down due to Ike’s wind and rain and the resulting power outages.

According to another article on CNN Money, there are some energy analysts that believe if these facilities are out of commission for any length of time, there is a pretty good chance gas prices will climb above $6 per gallon in some states, and above $5 nationally.

Obviously, I think most of us are really hoping this worst case scenario doesn’t come to fruition.  After all – and I think I’m not alone in saying this – I was getting pretty happy about not having to pay $4 for a gallon of gas.