"According to a nationwide survey released by the AAA Saturday," writes CNNMoney.com, "the average price of regular unleaded gasoline edged up 5.8 cents to $3.73 a gallon, from $3.675 a day earlier."
Gas shortages are expected because so many Gulf Coast refineries had to shut down.
President Bush says federal officials are monitoring what's happening and will step in if it appears that anyone is trying to take advantage of the situation.
"[T]he Department of Energy, the Federal Trade Commission and, I know, the state authorities will be monitoring the gasoline prices to make sure consumers are not being gouged," Bush said in a brief televised statement this morning.
Last night, the Houston Chronicle reported that the severity of the storm would determine "[h]ow soon refineries can start back up, tanker trucks can fill up at terminals and new supplies reach retailers."
It's still too early to know when that will be.
But this much is for sure:
- One of the refineries is the #1 domestic supplier for the United States, and many of the other affected refineries play significant roles in U.S. energy supply.
- Production and supply experts were telling CNN this afternoon that, even if the shutdowns are temporary, it will be days, if not weeks, before they can get back up to normal capacity.
The restoration of power to the region will have a lot to do with how long the refineries remain shut down.
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