Ike > Gas Prices

Hurricane Ike expected to pump up gas prices

BY TOM INCANTALUPO |[EMAIL="[email protected]&subject="][email protected][/EMAIL] September 13, 2008 Get set for another spike in gasoline prices, perhaps beginning as early as Saturday due to Hurricane Ike, experts warned Friday.

How high prices go and for how long depends on the massive storm's damage to refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast that produce about 15 percent of the nation's gasoline.

"We're likely to see prices rise in the next week or so," said Doug MacIntyre, a senior oil analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Kevin Beyer, president of the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association, said some suppliers began raising prices to his members by as much as 25 cents a gallon Thursday and that most stations would have to pass the increases to motorists. "It's in anticipation of the storm and that supplies will be tight for a while," he said.



Peter Beutel, an energy consultant and president of Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Conn., said prices in the Northeast could jump by 35 to 50 cents a gallon over the next week to 10 days. "The expectation is they'll come down pretty quickly if there's no major damage," he said.