Expect gas prices to spike as a result of SF refinery fire
Posted August 7, 2012 3:33 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Get ready for another possible spike at the pump.
This time you can thank a Chevron refinery fire near San Francisco.
So how will that affect prices? It has already sent wholesale prices soaring in California.
“We saw in the Pacific Northwest, on the US side, prices went up about 22 cents,” says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service.
In litres that equals a jump of just a few cents, and Kloza expects the situation to be similar in BC.
“It’s a big refinery that has gone down and if another one goes down, it sort of hikes the ante for other potential problems,” he explains. “August is kind of the last month where we see very brisk demand and after Labour Day demand drops and it is much easier to manufacture the gasoline.”
BP’s Cherry Point refinery across the line from White Rock took four months to reach full production after a fire in February.
That situation kept Vancouver gas prices above 1.40 a litre even as the price of crude fell.
