Hurricane Ida hits US energy production


Washington, Aug 31 (IANS): Ida, which made landfall in the US state Lousiana as a Category 4 hurricane over the weekend, has halted much of the country's gasoline refining and oil production along the Gulf Coast.

Gas prices in the country could increase in the coming days as a result, energy experts said, noting the possible hike may exacerbate inflation that's already hurting American consumers, reports Xinhua news agency.

The average price of a gallon of regular fuel in the country stood at $3.15 on Monday, down 1 cent from a week earlier but up 92 cents from a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association.

However, wholesale gasoline futures were about 5 cents higher in early trading on Monday.

"We have seen three weeks of falling prices but that will probably end this week," Patrick De Haan, chief of petroleum analysis for fuel-savings app GasBuddy, told local media.

According to the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, more than 95 per cent of oil production at offshore platforms and rigs in the Gulf of Mexico was shut down ahead of Hurricane Ida's landfall on Sunday.

In the aftermath of the landfall, flooding or prolonged power outages could still keep the refineries and pipelines offline for days, local experts said.

Louisiana is home to three of the seven largest refineries in the country, making up 17.5 per cent of US overall refining capacity at its 15 refineries, according to the Energy Information Administration.

 

  

Top Stories


Leave a Comment

Title: Hurricane Ida hits US energy production



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.