Katrina wreaks havoc on gas prices

As Hurricane Katrina tears through Southern states leaving behind a trail of destruction, the entire country will feel the impact at the gas pump.

Monday, Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, where many U.S. oil refineries are located.

AAA Carolinas predicted Tuesday that gas prices will increase as much as 20 cents in the coming days because of the storm.

That increase comes on top of already rising gas prices that shot the national average up to $2.61 per gallon Monday, a 74.4-cent increase from the same week last year, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

Jonathan Cogan, environmental information specialist at EIA, said it is too soon to know exactly what impact Katrina will have on gas prices.

“It caused a lot of damage,” he said. “We don’t know what damage was done to the refineries.”

He said the wholesale of crude oil has risen because a significant portion of U.S. refineries was affected by the storm.

“I would expect that we’ll see an increase in the next week,” he said.

President Bush announced Monday he will consider sending oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the refineries that were not able to get shipments because of the storm.

“SPR can put more crude oil out there on the market,” Cogan said.

But he said they first must assess the damage done to the refineries.

The oil supply is tapped during emergency situations such as hurricanes. There also was a release of that supply after Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

The World Trade Institute had petroleum prices up $2.61 per barrel from Monday bringing the total price up to $69.81.

A hike in gas prices this week also will affect holiday travelers this weekend.

Justin McNaull, a spokesman for AAA, said no study will be conducted before Labor Day to see how the added increase in gas prices from Katrina would impact travel this weekend.

He said the difference in motorist numbers likely would not be significant, given that travel is expected to increase despite a gallon of gas costing 73 cents more already this year.

AAA officials expect national travel to be up 0.9 percent this year with 34.5 million travelers, according to a press release Tuesday.

McNaull did say last-minute travelers might choose something a bit closer or a more gas-efficient option.

“We will see people thinking a little harder of which vehicle to use,” he said.

AAA Carolinas said in a press release Tuesday that fewer North Carolinians will be traveling on the roadways this weekend.

Even though there is expected to be a decrease in motor vehicle travel, AAA Carolinas projects that there will be a slight increase in air travel.

The Southeast was found to be the only region in the country with an expected decrease in holiday travel.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.