Pump prices jump across U.S. after Katrina

By Kent Bernhard Jr.

updated 8:54 a.m. ET Sept. 1, 2005

Gas prices in cities across the United States soared by as much as 40 cents a gallon from Tuesday to Wednesday, a surge blamed on disruptions by Hurricane Katrina in Gulf of Mexico oil production.

In many metropolitan areas, such as South Florida and Atlanta, prices were already approaching $3 a gallon, as they shot up throughout the early part of this week. Some stations in Chicago, areas of Boston and Atlanta reported prices had exceeded $3 a gallon. In the Atlanta area, a Chevron station in Stockbridge, Ga.'s price surged to $3.78 a gallon Wednesday afternoon and the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported many were charging $2.99 a gallon.

With gas prices spinning higher, regulators in some states are considering allowing some gas stations to charge by the 1/2 gallon. That's because those stations' old-style pumps can't begin with a "3." Many in the Denver area were expecting to see prices that high by the weekend.

The Orlando Business Journal reports that Floridians could see increases of up to 50 cents a gallon and at one station in Orlando, the cost per gallon is $2.99.

"It's very difficult to say because so much is unknown," says Greg Laskoski, managing director for AAA Auto Club South. "We don't know the extent of the damage, if the damage is short-term or long-term. We need more facts."

Ohio gas prices could go as high as $4 a gallon, the Dayton Business Journal reports. At least two Kettering, Ohio, stations were charging $3.09 a gallon for regular grade gas, the business journal reported.

In the Pacific Northwest, someone driving a BMW Z4 Roadster from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, could expect to spend $17.09 on gasoline, and taking a Ford F-150 on the same trip would cost $25.64. The Puget Sound Business Journal reported gas prices rose 2 cents overnight, to a record $2.75 a gallon.

Katrina knocked out about 95 percent of oil production in the Gulf -- a key supply point for the U.S. About a quarter of domestic oil comes from the region. The impact is being felt far from the Gulf.

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The Triangle Business Journal in the capital region of North Carolina reported some stations hiked prices by a whopping 40 cents a gallon from Tuesday to Wednesday. Prices there ballooned from about $2.50 a gallon to nearly $3 a gallon. And supplies are running short. "We are almost out of gas," said the owner of The Food Mart #9 in Fuquay-Varina, N.C. "We don't know if we'll get gas this afternoon or next week. It's a bad situation."

The prospect of continued oil disruption sent crude oil prices briefly above $70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile exchange Wednesday. It also led analysts to predict average gas prices for regular unleaded would pass $3 a gallon in places by the Labor Day Weekend, traditionally the last big traveling weekend of the summer.

Nationally, prices were $2.619 a gallon Wednesday morning, up from $2.604 Tuesday and $2.284 a month ago, according to AAA. September unleaded gasoline futures were trading at $2.68 a gallon, a record, Wednesday morning.

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