Now is the time for all of us to pay our 'Harvey Tax.' At the gas pump.
News Radio 1200 WOAI reports the damage from Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast, which is the home of the largest concentration of oil refineries in the United States, will mean higher prices at the pump.
"Just a few days ago, and thanks to Harvey, gas prices will go up at least 5 to 15 cents a gallon, and maybe a little bit more," petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy.com told News Radio 1200 WOAI.
Valero Energy Corp says its huge Corpus Christi and Three Rivers refineries remain inactive due to the continuing storm, and more Valero facilities up the Texas coast may also have to be shut down due to the path of the tropical storm.
DeHaan says that's part of the problem, the fact that Harvey is still not finished doing its damage.
"Its a storm that's still actively dumping rain on the region," he said. "So we are still waiting for good damage assessments to come in. And with all this water, it's difficult to get good estimates nonetheless."
The gas price in San Antonio has already begun to climb, due to a jump in gasoline futures fueled by Harvey, Today's average price of $2.08 a gallon is up three cents just in the past two days.
And DeHaan says this higher prices will stick around, possibly into October."It could be quite some time," he said. "First of all, refiners have to get things sorted out at the refinery, pipelines have to be checked out, this could be something that could stick around for several weeks and maybe longer."