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Originally Posted by CoachP
Saw a $4.99 in Lansing area and $5.09 a little north of there. Hurricane scare?????
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Associated Press HOUSTON -- Even before Hurricane Ike smashed into the U.S. Gulf Coast, it had already made an economic landfall, sending wholesale gasoline prices soaring Friday and straining the nation's fuel supply chain.
Wholesale gasoline prices on the Gulf Coast moved even further into uncharted territory to around $4.85 a gallon on fears of vast fuel shortages as the hurricane honed in on the mass of refineries that line the upper Texas coast. The region accounts for about one-fifth of the nation's petroleum refining capacity. At least eight refineries had shut down or were powering down as Ike prepared to strike.
Gas supply disruptions were being felt outside Texas. Gulf Coast wholesale gasoline jumped substantially from Tuesday, when a gallon cost just $3, said Ben Brockwell, director of data, pricing and information services for the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J.
"The path of the storm has put the entire supply chain under stress from the refinery level all the way to the retail station level," Brockwell said. "Hopefully it's a temporary phenomenon, but we won't know until next week."
The spike will almost certainly lead to higher pump prices for consumers across broad swaths of the country, as the gasoline makes it way from the wholesale market to retailers. On Friday, major refineries shuttered operations in preparation for a storm surge. Still, there was concern the refinery shut-ins may last for days.
Despite rising gasoline prices, the price for a barrel of crude dropped below $100, albeit briefly, for the first time since April, suggesting investors believe a global economic slowdown will tamp down supply for some time.