Harvey impact still being felt at gas pumps

ALBANY — While it was too early Monday to tell what effect Irma would have on Southwest Georgia gas prices, Albany and much of the country were still stinging from the impact of Harvey’s devastation of the Houston area.

The national average for a gallon of gas Monday was above $2.66, and both metro Albany and Georgia, which usually have prices below the U.S. average, were well above that number.

Both GasBuddy and AAA Auto Club Group survey thousands of U.S. gas stations across the country on gas prices.

“Harvey may be long gone, but his wrath continued to drive gasoline prices up in much of the country in the last week,” Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said. “However, the effects are finally starting to weaken as refineries return to production and fuel begins to flow once again from many Houston refineries.

“The national average gasoline price appears to have peaked last week on Thursday at $2.67 per gallon and is beginning to slowly decline for the time being. Once again, motorists shouldn’t expect to see any impact from Irma on gasoline prices due to the path being a considerable distance from sensitive areas of the energy sector.”

Albany, meanwhile, has seen some impact, both from an influx of Floridians fleeing Irma and from local residents preparing for the impact of Irma as it worked its way through the region on Monday. There have been spots where gas stations in the region have been unable to keep up with demand.

On Monday, AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report had the five-county metro area at $2.725, making its third-highest of the state’s largest metro areas behind Atlanta ($2.815) and Athens ($2.732). The cheapest Georgia metro area on the survey was Augusta at $2.655.

For metro Albany, the price represented an increase of 9.2 cents in a week. Since last month, the Albany average has risen 64.6 cents, and motorists were paying 75.5 cents more per gallon than last year.

Georgia was averaging $2.757 on the AAA survey and $2.762 on GasBuddy’s on Monday. Those numbers, depending on the survey, represent increases of 6.4-9.6 cents in a week, 52.4-56.6 cents in a month and 65.4 cents since last year.

DeHaan said reduced demand should help alleviate pain at the pump.

“With summer driving season now over,” he said, “motorists stand to benefit from falling demand, which will help refineries bring gasoline inventories back to normal and thus gas prices. But as many Americans are now acutely aware, the impact on gas prices can outlive a storm, especially one like Harvey.”