Gas Back to $3 Per Gallon?

By andrew Shain, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Sep. 26–Despite the lighter-than-expected blow to Gulf of Mexico gas refineries from Hurricane Rita, prices at the pump could climb for the next two weeks on tighter supplies, an expert said Sunday.

That means a return to $3 for a gallon of regular in the Charlotte region. Most stations were charging $2.90 Sunday, though a few were charging just under $3.

Supplies, however, should not become critically low like they were in the days after Hurricane Katrina last month, according to Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service.

“I don’t think it’s going to run out, but $3 a gallon isn’t a great thing,” said Jade Tornatore, after pumping five gallons into his Ford Explorer in Cornelius on Sunday.

More than 15 refineries along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, representing about 20 percent of the nation’s gas supply, closed in anticipation of the storm that reached land Saturday morning. None has reopened.

Six refineries reported damage or power outages, the U.S. Department of Energy said Sunday. One refinery will need two weeks to a month to reopen. Four refineries remain closed after Hurricane Katrina struck the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts last month.

The main pipeline supplying gasoline to the Charlotte region was operating at less than half capacity Sunday. Five of the Colonial Pipeline’s pump stations had no power, the Energy Department said. The pipeline is hoped to reach 72 percent capacity by Tuesday.

“We got hit by a bullet, not the rocket-propelled grenade everyone was expecting,” said Kloza. “We’re going to have supply problems until Columbus Day. It could have been a lot worse.”

Kloza said prices should rise slowly during the short-lived supply crunch, unlike the sharp spike in the days after Katrina, when area prices added $1 a gallon overnight. Then pump prices should fall through the end of the year.

Charlotte region gas prices have remained above national averages since the two pipelines supplying all of the metro area’s gas went down for three days after Katrina.

Charlotte’s average price for a gallon of regular had fallen 40 cents from the record $3.21 on Sept. 3. The average increased by a nickel over the weekend and is 8 cents higher than the national average, according to the AAA.

Charlotte typically is 8 cents less that the national average.

Staff Writer Carrie Levine contributed.

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