Gas & Diesel Outlook after Harvey’s Impact – Hurricane Harvey, barreling through the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, the Keys and Florida two weeks ago is projected to cost up to $200 billion in damages. As if that weren’t bad enough, Harvey is also causing panic over rising gasoline process in his wake, due to all the refinery shutdowns. However, many leaders are saying the gas problem is not what the media is making it out to be.
Instead, it’s time to get some perspective on the issues, says Fuel Marketer News. In a country where Americans consume 14 million barrels of gas and diesel every single day and demand that fluctuates with the driving seasons, let’s take a look at the reality in the United States:
- The U.S. has about 400 million barrels of refined products in stock, which means that even if 10 percent of refineries were shut down for one year (and the actual number is lower than that), we would actually have enough supplies to last for one year.
- Because retailers are worried about volume retention at unprecedented rates, their main focus is to “hold the line” on prices across the board.
- There are rules that are designed to discourage price increases, with hypervigilance on the part of every state attorney looking to make an example of anyone who doesn’t comply.
- There has been no damage to the many pipelines or trucking infrastructure as a result of the storm.
- Winter blend fuels will provide less costly blending components.
In the end, the panic giving way to predictions of gas rising up to 25 cents is unfounded and therefore shouldn’t be propagated. Experts say an increase of between one and three cents over the next month is more like it. After that, the down trend in prices is expected to continue.