Last weekend’s attack on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities temporarily knocked out half of that country’s oil capacity and led to gas price increases across the U.S. and in the tri-state area.
Gas price changes were as follows:
- Delaware gas average at $2.52 today, down a penny overnight and up 14 cents in the last week.
- Pennsylvania gas average at $2.80 today, down a penny overnight and up 9 cents in the last week.
- New Jersey gas average at $2.59 today, unchanged overnight and up 4 cents in the last week.
- Maryland gas average at $2.58 today, unchanged overnight and up 14 cents in the last week.
- Philadelphia (5-county) area gas average at $2.76 today, unchanged overnight and up 5 cents in the last week.
- S. Jersey gas average at $2.52 today, unchanged overnight and up 5 cents in the last week.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled in at around $58 a barrel, up nearly $3 over the past week.
Crude oil prices jumped in response to the attacks on Saudi oil facilities. However, crude prices retreated Tuesday and Wednesday after Saudi Arabia reported the damage caused by the weekend attacks was not as bad as initially thought.
“Motorists across the country and here locally are seeing pump prices spike due to the loss of crude oil production in Saudi Arabia,” said Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “The situation remains fluid, and how long the price spikes will last is unknown. However, AAA anticipates motorists may pay between five and 20 cents more than what they were prior to the attacks in Saudi Arabia, depending on region and market.”
Analysts will continue to watch as the market assesses the fluid crude production situation in Saudi Arabia.
A return to full capacity of the damaged facility is pledged by end of November however, crude, and gas prices, could remain higher as global spare capacity is low.
In addition to knocking out around half of Saudi Arabia’s crude production, it also limited the country’s spare capacity, which serves as a cushion for oil markets. In addition to production issues, geopolitical factors could also weigh on the situation including the U.S. and Saudi response to the weekend attacks, as both countries place the blame on Iran.
To check out prices in your area log on to the Fuel Price Finder (http://www.AAA.com/fuelfinder), which locates the lowest fuel price in your area.
