(Ryan Ledendecker) It was so nice having President Donald Trump in charge, because not once do I remember worrying about how much it would cost to fill the tank on my truck. That was in stark contrast to the Obama years, when gas would spike to $4 per gallon.
Related Diamonds Need Small Electric Fields to Crystallize, According to Study
Source – The Federalist Papers
by Ryan Ledendecker, February 19th, 2021
Thanks to the situation in Texas, along with Biden’s apparent goal to cripple the fuel and energy industry in America, it appears as if gas prices could soon skyrocket, just as we inch our way out of winter and start looking at spring, when people typically start traveling by vehicle more.
Reuters has the story:
Texas oil refineries shut by cold-weather disruptions may take several weeks to resume normal operations, industry experts said on Friday, helping to push up fuel prices.
About a fifth of oil processing was halted by power outages, shortages of natural gas and water this week.
Average retail gasoline prices rose 6 cents on the week and are up 9 cents in the last month, to $2.33 a gallon, the American Automobile Association said. It forecast inventories would fall, keeping prices higher through month’s end.
“We are 2-1/2 to three weeks away from restoring most operations” at affected refineries, said Andrew Lipow, president of Houston-based consultancy Lipow Oil Associates.
The refinery shutdowns will depress prices for U.S. crude oil and widen the spread between U.S. and Brent crude, Paul Sankey of independent energy researcher Sankey Research said in a note. He forecast “heavy pressure on US crude prices from returning supply into no demand from a major refining outage that will last 2-3 weeks.”
U.S. crude futures fell 1.5% on Friday, to $59.60 a barrel, as producers signaled plans to restart production. U.S. crude is up 22% year to date. U.S. gasoline futures on the New York exchange rose to $1.805 per gallon.
“The spreads tell me that crude oil will come back quicker” than refining margins, said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities USA.
Refinery operators are assessing facilities and may need to repair any damage to pipelines, cooling towers and other equipment before slowly and carefully restarting, Lipow said.
Shortages and high prices for natural gas have also affected refiners. Texas officials this week asked natural gas suppliers to prioritize deliveries to electric utilities and residential customers, leaving less of the fuel to supply refinery operations, Lipow said.
Slowly resuming electricity and water needed to power the plants also is likely to cause delays at Texas Gulf Coast refineries beyond what is normal after business-pausing natural disasters such as hurricanes, he said.
Buckle your seatbelts, because the next few months are probably going to be brutal in more ways than one with Biden at the helm.
2024 can’t come soon enough.
About The Author
Ryan Ledendecker is a freelance journalist and writer who covers U.S. politics and breaking news. He began reporting news and writing commentary during the 2014 Ferguson riots. Prior to that, he worked as a web editor and columnist for an award-winning local newspaper.
When he’s not writing about the latest happenings, you can usually find him outdoors working the BBQ pit.
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