Area gas prices fall 5 cents in a week

Declines at the pump expected to continue after hurricane surge.

Palm Beach County’s average for a gallon of regular gasoline fell 5 cents from a week ago, and the drop in prices that began more than three weeks ago is expected to continue.

Monday, Palm Beach County’s average stood at $2.66 a gallon. The state average dipped to $2.53 from $2.60 a week ago, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report.

Unlike hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Hurricane Nate has not caused gasoline prices to rise.

AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins MORE NEWS ONLINE

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said, “The state average is falling by about a cent a day, as retail prices continue to recover from the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. Gas prices remain inflated by about 20-30 cents, and should decline another 5-10 cents this week.”

Fuel prices surged after Harvey made landfall in Texas on Aug. 25, causing Gulf of Mexico refineries to shut down. Then prices rose again as Irma approached Florida in September. People filling up their tanks, a massive evacuation

as millions of Floridians left the state and port closures all contributed to shortages and escalating prices.

Hurricane Nate entered the Gulf region Friday night and then made landfall in Louisiana on Saturday, and a second landfall in Mississippi on Sunday. However, the region’s offshore oil production infrastructure came through with only minimal damage.

Nate’s impact on the Gulf Coast region should not affect local prices, Jenkins said. However, if refineries and oil resumingrigs have normala difficult operations,time and futures prices spike, then the local gas price plunge could stall. The scenario will take a few days to play out.

Although more than 92 percent of Gulf of Mexico oil production was shut down during the weekend, according to the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, oil futures were not affected.

GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said the downward trend in gasoline prices is unlikely to be interrupted by Hurricane Nate during this past weekend.

“Gasoline supply has con- tinued to improve and as temperatures begin to feel more fall-like, demand for fuel will continue to decline,” DeHaan said. “Hurricane Nate, a fast-moving storm, did little to disrupt the flow of fuel to market while having a larger impact on oil rigs.”

“However, the nation continues to be awash in crude oil, so the storm mattered lit- tle to oil prices,” DeHaan said.

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■ Hurricaneat Nate offshoreand affectedrefin- oil productioneries in Louisiana,sites and Missis- refinsippi,

■ Oil and Price Alabama. Information Service reports that the market is awaiting status updates from refineries in the Gulf Coast, but no damage has been reported so far.

■ Even if there is no damage at any of the refineries, OPIS speculates that shut-in Gulf of Mexico oil production could pose a crude-oil supply issue.

■ The total stood at 1.6 million barrels a day during the weekend, or 92.34 percent of typical daily output in the region, according to the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

■ During the weekend, ports were closed in New Orle a ns, Baton Rouge, Mobile, Pascagoula, Panama City, and Pensacola.

■ The U.S. Coast Guard spent Sunday making assessments of ports, refineries and returning personnel to offshore production.