As refineries return, gas shortage to ease soon.
GASOLINE: Shortage likely to ease next week as most refineries soon to resume work
“By a week from now, there shouldn’t be a whole lot of stations with bags on their pumps. And, with prices, I think we’re close to a peak.” Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy
T EXAS’ gasoline shortage woes should ease by next week as all but a handful of the state’s major Gulf Coast refineries have begun the methodical restart process after Hurricane Harvey.
The gasoline price spikes of 20 percent or more in Texas may linger for a couple of weeks longer, but motorists won’t have to worry about gas stations running out of fuel for much longer, said Patrick DeHaan,
senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.
“By a week from now, there shouldn’t be a whole lot of stations with bags on their pumps,” DeHaan said. “And, with prices, I think we’re close to a peak.”
Harvey knocked out more than a dozen Texas Gulf Coast refineries — and reduced operations at others — taking out nearly 25 percent of the nation’s fuel production capacity. That has declined to less than 15 percent over the past few days.
Roughly half of San Antonio’s gas stations remain dry, DeHaan said, while more than 20 percent of those in the Houston area lack gasoline supplies. That doesn’t count stations shuttered because of damages incurred from Harvey’s floodwaters.
In the meantime, the Houston area average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has jumped from $2.10 to $2.50, while the national average climbed from $2.32 to $2.67 as of Wednesday. The Dallasarea average soared up to $2.72, according to GasBuddy.
Major refining complexes in the Corpus Christi area are now fully back online.
Also, the nation’s two largest refineries, Motiva Enterprises’ Port Arthur refinery and Exxon Mobil’s Baytown complex, have begun the restart process, although they are several days away from resuming full operations. Motiva said it hopes to be at 40 percent capacity for the beginning of next week.
The refineries furthest from resuming full operations are Royal Dutch Shell’s Deer Park refinery, Phillips 66 in Sweeny, Exxon Mobil in Beaumont, and Paris-based Total in Port Arthur. They combine to churn through more than 1.1 million barrels of oil a day.
They all suffered damages or major flooding. Total’s Port Arthur refinery, for instance, shut down abruptly after it lost power during the storm.
“We are assessing the damages, restoring normal utility systems and repairing known damage,” said Total spokeswoman Agathe Bruandet on Wednesday. “It’s too early to talk about start-up.”
Phillips 66 said it is aiming to restart its Sweeny refinery by mid-September. The company said 1,500 people are working on the refinery and making repairs to fix the “minimal damage” sustained from Harvey.
Shell said it’s still assessing Deer Park. “We will restart operations once all system checks have been completed,” Shell said.
Likewise, Exxon Mobil said its Beaumont refinery remains shut down because of flooding.