Post-Harvey peak in gas prices might have passed

The average retail gasoline price in New York state rose another 3.6 cents per gallon last week, reaching $2.79 per gallon, but might have experienced its post-Harvey peaked, an industry analyst says.

“[Hurricane] Harvey may be long gone, but his wrath continued to drive gasoline prices up in much of the country in the last week,” said Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. “However, the effects are finally starting to weaken as refineries return to production and fuel begins to flow once again from many Houston refineries.

“The national average gasoline price appears to have peaked last week Thursday at $2.67 per gallon and is beginning to slowly decline for the time being,” DeHaan said. “With summer driving season now over, motorists stand to benefit from falling demand, which will help refineries bring gasoline inventories back to normal, and thus gas prices .... ”

The national average on Sunday was $2.65 per gallon, up 1.8 cents from a week earlier, according to GasBuddy.

New York state’s average price on Sunday was 33.4 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and 48.6 cents higher than a year ago.

The national average Sunday was up 30.4 cents from a month earlier and 48.1 cents from a year ago.

According to GasBuddy historical data, gasoline prices on Sept. 11 in New York have ranged widely over the last five years: $2.31 per gallon in 2016, $2.56 in 2015, $3.68 in 2014, $3.84 in 2013 and $4.07 in 2012.