Hurricane Katrina Targets Oil?

[ines248]

"Retail gasoline prices are poised to jump to new highs this week as Hurricane Katrina barreled toward the heart of U.S. oil production and refining operations in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 sending crude-oil futures briefly above $70 a barrel for the first time."
http://www.softcom.net/webnews/wed/dr/Ayb79684327.RPxZ_FlT.html


Once more time Tampa bay,FL missed this hurricane, but I still will suffer the effects from this powerful hurricane?

Does this article (see above) and other oil and Katrina articles found on the Internet means that gasoline will be higher than it is now in the couple of next days?

Thank you for explaining this article to me!

 

[ceecee]

Everyone is predicting higher gas prices.

 

[EthansMom]

In all likelihood, yes. There's lots of off-shore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that has been hit hard by Katrina. You could expect some increase in price just because those rigs have been shut down during the hurricane, but there is likely to be a good-sized hike due to damage. I actually read on cnn that there was an oil rig platform that ripped loose and got stuck under a bridge: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/29/hurricane.katrina/index.html.

I just locked in my price on home heating oil today -- there's no chance of prices going lower any time soon. Next year, I'll get smart and prebuy my winter supply of oil in June or July -- would have saved me $300-$500 this year.

I've already started making fewer trips to town. I'll continue that trend and will run errands only on days that I have to take DS to town for preschool -- I'm using half the gas I used to, but not saving much since it's almost twice as expensive. Also, since DH HAS to commute to work, my lower use is just helping offset his commuting costs. Oh, well...

 

[ines248]

Everyone is predicting higher gas prices.

With or without the hurricane hitting the oil production and refining operations center?

I mean did the hurricane made the gasoline prices more higher than they already predicted for the rest of the 2005? Or it was going higher anyway without a hurricane?

Sorry for asking too many questions just that I think that now I will finally have to postpone all my Disney plans vacation for next year.

 

[EthansMom]

With or without the hurricane hitting the oil production and refining operations center?

There's really no telling what was going to happen to oil/gas prices. Traditionally, prices go down a bit in the fall as fewer families are on the road for vacations.

But, with OPEC not quite producing what the used to and U.S. refineries not quite putting out as much output as is being demanded, most of the reports out there were leaning towards increases in price in the near future despite the hurricane.

Now, if the hurricane doesn't have a huge impact on U.S. production/refining, then the price increase due to Katrina may drop off over time. No one will know until all of the equipment is inspected.

It may not be necessary to cancel your plans outright -- perhaps changes in the length of your stay, changes in dining choices, or changes in resort reservations could help you to offset the increase in fuel costs. It's also possible that WDW might offer better discounts for rooms if domestic travel falls off due to other people canceling their travel plans, which is especially likely if air travel increases in price in order to cover airplane fuel costs.

 

[DisneyMomOK]

The supply is less of a problem than the refining capacity. There have been no new refineries built in the US for years and now we are feeling the effects. Crude supplies are tight, but the refined product is much tighter. This summer there have been several incidents that brought down portions of different refiners for significant periods of time and with Katrina there is possibility one or more of the nine refineries located in the NO area might be damaged, too. Hope they made it thru without much problem, but that might not be the case.

Sharon

PS I live in a town with two refineries and lots of Oklahoma Sweet Crude still pumping to supply them, and we still have retail prices of $2.56!

 

[deide71]

Wouldn't it be great if we all changed our habits, reduced the amount of oil we consumed, and the middle east felt the ripple?

 

[LisaRay]

I hope it doesn't get higher then it did yesterday. Here where I live it went up to $3.25 a gal.!!

And I agree with deide71...... I wish more people would change driving habits too. I know we have cut back on driving when it can be helped. However, we live in a small town and both my DH and my dad have to drive 45 miles to work every day. My dad is in a carpool but with my DH's job he can't carpool. Some days he goes in early unexpected or stays late and then there are days he travels for work and his schedule is just crazy. But we have cut down on our travel on weekends for sure!

 

[leight]

Expect gas prices to skyrocket in the next couple of days- wholesalers upped their prices by $0.30 overnight due to Katrina.

I would hope that this fuel crisis- which will have a trickle down effect on the economy will show the gov't that they need to really work w/ alternate fuel technologies to find a viable solution. The economy can't take too much more of this.

 

[ceecee]

Wouldn't it be great if we all changed our habits, reduced the amount of oil we consumed, and the middle east felt the ripple?

Won't happen as long as everyone buys SUVs and oversize cars. My sister lives in England where they say gas prices are higher and more people have smaller cars. When they visit they like to rent the larger luxury cars.

 

[tide4life]

The supply is less of a problem than the refining capacity. There have been no new refineries built in the US for years and now we are feeling the effects. Crude supplies are tight, but the refined product is much tighter. This summer there have been several incidents that brought down portions of different refiners for significant periods of time and with Katrina there is possibility one or more of the nine refineries located in the NO area might be damaged, too. Hope they made it thru without much problem, but that might not be the case.

Sharon

PS I live in a town with two refineries and lots of Oklahoma Sweet Crude still pumping to supply them, and we still have retail prices of $2.56!

One major problem is that the environmental lobby was successful in the late 70's and early 80's with its "sky is falling" rhetoric and was able to COMPLETELY ELIMINATE the possibility of ANY new refineries being built ANYWHERE in the U.S. Now we are paying the price. The truth of the matter is that oil production technologies have advanced tremendously in the last twenty years and are more environmentally friendly than coal, which we continue to develop and use. The sad thing is, even if there was a complete turnaround by lawmakers today (there won't be, they are too spineless), it would be four to six years before the new refineries would have a meaningful impact on our domestic oil supply. BTW, were you aware that we have over 100 producing oil wells in the US that have been capped off due to the cost of environmental regulations? There are also at least 3 major oil fields that have been located in the US that are at large as the Gulf of Mexico fields that are not being explored and developed due to environmental regulations?

I am aware of this inoformation having worked as an analyst for a Wall Street firm.

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

Our local news this morning was saying that we can probably expect a .15 cent increase per gallon within the next couple of days due to this latest hurricane . . .just in time for the Labor Day weekend . . .