Prices aren't coming down nearly as rapidly as they went up, but AAA Texas says we are finally beginning to see some relief at the pump following Hurricane Harvey's damage to coastal refineries, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The average price in San Antonio today is $2.46. That is down from the $2.50 we were paying one week ago, but still a far cry from the $2.15 that was being charged before Harvey came ashore, and before the bizarre 'gas panic' following the storm drove up prices even more.
“Gas prices are dropping as the situation with refineries and gasoline deliveries is positively progressing,” said Sarah Schimmer of AAA Texas.“Analysts say pump prices may continue on this declining trend into the coming weeks as the regions affected by Irma and Harvey resume normal operations.”
She says the job of restarting refineries that were shuttered by Harvey is slow, as not only does the refinery itself have to check out, but the pipelines that carry the gasoline to stations have to be certified to be completely repaired.
"The spike seen in previous weeks came as both refineries and gas stations faced outages as power was down and roads impassable. Positive progress is being seen in the Gulf Coast. According to the Department of Energy, more Gulf Coast refineries are operating than last week. In addition, ports are open and receiving steady streams of tanker shipments as officials continue to work with gasoline trucker and shippers to ensure timely delivery of product to retail stations. It will likely be a few more weeks before the regions affected by Irma and Harvey are back to normal operations," Schimmer said.
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