Refinery issues and problems associated with Hurricane Matthew pulled the national average consumer price for gas up even as motor club AAA said demand dropped.
AAA reports a national average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at $2.25, only slightly more than one week ago, but about 4 percent, or 7 cents per gallon, more expensive than one month ago.
In mid-September, refineries in the United States start shifting to a winter blend of gasoline, which is less expensive to make because there are fewer environmental safeguards needed in cooler months. After the Labor Day holiday, consumer demand drops off and those two factors tend to pull gasoline prices lower.
AAA said Hurricane Matthew, which left hundreds of people dead in its wake, forced the closure of fuel terminals in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. With Matthew sparing most of Florida, the motor club said in its retail market report that vessels were arriving at port by Friday afternoon. Most coastal ports reopened in the region by Monday as the remnants of Matthew moved out to sea.
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"Barring any delays due to flooding and power outages, tanker trucks should be able to access terminals and quickly resupply stations across the impacted areas," AAA said.
Of three states most heavily impacted by the storm, Georgia had the highest state average price at $2.28 per gallon. Georgia's state average, however, is actually less than it was before Hurricane Matthew hit.
AAA said gas supplies in the areas impacted by Hurricane Matthew have adequate supplies of gasoline.
Great Lakes states, however, continued to get the short end of the stick with "significant" spikes coming as a result of continued problems at regional refineries, like BP's refinery in Whiting, Ind., the largest in the region.
The least volatile state in the region, Illinois, saw prices at the pump move up 2 percent from last week to $2.33. The most volatile, Indiana, saw prices increase 5 percent from last week. Problems at BP's refinery last year pushed some markets above $3 per gallon.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said it expected retail gasoline prices to average $1.92 per gallon by December.
