How high will gas prices go?

An oil refinery in Texas City, Texas. PHOTO: LUKE SHARRETT/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Alison Sider reports in the Wall Street Journal,

Gasoline prices surged to a two-year high at the pump Thursday after the owner of the largest pipeline in the U.S. reported that shipments are being sharply curtailed, spreading the economic pain from Hurricane Harvey throughout the nation.

Retail prices for gasoline approached $2.49 a gallon by Thursday evening, according to the Oil Price Information Service, up about 14 cents from a week ago. Prices in some cities have climbed much more than that and could keep rising toward an average of $2.60 to $2.75 a gallon in the next 10 days, said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the price-data tracker.

Since Harvey made landfall on Friday, the storm has knocked out more than 20% of U.S. refining capacity, analysts said.

...Major refiners are telling customers that they would only supply their own branded outlets because they don’t have enough gasoline to supply wholesale customers as well, analysts said. That’s leading to an unusual situation in which unbranded gasoline is becoming more expensive than the fuel sold at stations affiliated with major oil companies.

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