Gas Prices Rise Due to Winter Weather

NEW YORK
Gasoline and Diesel prices are displayed on a pump at a Shell gas station. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

American drivers will find their gas prices at the pump have risen, as the country thaws itself out from sweeping ice and snow that blanketed the South and Midwest.

The average price per gallon is now $2.66, up 13 cents from last week, and 26 cents from last month, Fox News 5 reported.

The prices have been the highest for gas in more than a year, due to refineries in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma being forced to close amidst heavy snowstorms. Prices are expected to fluctuate until production of crude oil stabilizes.

“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,” a spokesperson for the American Automobile Association said in a statement. “The good news is the nearly two dozen impacted refiners are expected to restart operations this week, if they haven’t already. That means regular gasoline deliveries will resume and impacted stations will be re-fueled.”

Texas was plummeted by snowstorms last week, leaving the state’s independent electrical grid down for hours on end. Refineries went offline and water pipes burst, leaving many without power or running water for days on end.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott had announced the state’s legislature would investigate the electrical companies failures to prepare their grids for extreme weather.

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smarcus@hamodia.com 

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