In the wake of recent weather in Texas and incoming conditions on the East Coast from Hurricane Irma, Tennessee residents can expect prices at the pump to continue their recent trend.
GasBuddy announced Tuesday that the average retail gasoline prices in Tennessee have risen 37.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.56 per gallon, according to the organization’s daily survey of 3,821 gas outlets in Tennessee. The gasoline price website added the results compare with the national average that has increased 23.8 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.64/g.
“Thanks to (Hurricane) Harvey shutting down an extensive amount of refining capacity, the national average gasoline price saw it’s largest weekly jump since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, when the national average jumped 49 cents in a week,” Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said in an email to the Elizabethton Star. “Every state has seen average gas prices rise. Texas saw shortages at hundreds of stations. It has been one of the most challenging weeks faced in years.”
According to data provided by GasBuddy, prices on Sept. 5 in Tennessee have ranged over the years:
• $2.01/g in 2016
• $2.11/g in 2015
• $3.20/g in 2014
• $3.38/g in 2013
• $3.65/g in 2012
For the time being, GasBuddy added the prices could look to remain on the rise.
“Until Texas can recover from Harvey, gasoline prices will like continue to remain elevated. The situation is beginning to look up, with many refineries either back online or in the process, and gasoline production is ramping back up. While it may be weeks or longer before all refineries are back online, we now turn our attention to Hurricane Irma. With the Colonial Pipeline having shut down last week due to a lack of products, Florida and the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic may be a touch and go area for gasoline.”
With the inconsistency of gas prices, DeHaan added notice is key when delving into high gas prices.
“There’s not much that can be done about rising gas prices,” he said. “We let motorists know so they can be prepared for what’s coming, but there’s little a motorist can do to avoid paying higher prices in events like these.”
DeHaan encouraged motorists to use mobile apps to find lower gas prices. GasBuddy Pay is a program that allows motorists to save 15c/gal on their first fill and 5c/gal on every fill afterwards.
Visit pay.gasbuddy.com to learn more about the program.