Gas Prices To Go Up After Philly Refinery Incident, Experts Say

PHILADELPHIA — Many residents in and around Philadelphia felt and heard the explosion and fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions' refinery in South Philly. But drivers in the northeastern United States will likely be feeling another effect of the incident: higher gas prices.

AAA Mid Atlantic's Public Affairs Manager Jana Tidwell shared details about what drivers, not just in the Great Philadelphia area but on the east coast, might expect.

"The closure of the PES refinery, the largest on the East Coast, will likely have an impact on gas prices in and around the region, though it is too early to know how much prices could increase, especially during the peak summer driving season, and for how long," Tidwell said. "Motorists in the region will likely continue to see modest increases in pump prices – especially leading up to what is expected to be a high-demand travel period for the Fourth of July."

>>>Philadelphia Energy Solutions To 'Sell And Restart' Refinery<<<

Tidwell called it a "perfect" storm of the refinery incident and an upcoming holiday weekend.

PES is the largest refinery on the East Coast. It produces 335,000 barrels — at 42 U.S. gallons per barrel — of crude per day.

Tidwell went on to say it's likely that gasoline providers will tap into gas stocks from Canada, nearby refineries in the Gulf Coast, and colonial pipeline to help fill the gasoline backlog. However, she said it's unknown how long that would be viable due to potentially high costs of transporting that gasoline to the region.

At this point, Tidwell said it's unclear how drastically prices could change as a result of the incident.

So far, gas prices are lower than they were over Memorial Day Weekend and lower than they were this time last year.

"The full impact of the PES refinery closure will depend on market reaction, gasoline demand and supply, as well as crude oil prices," she said. "Summer brings higher demand for gasoline due to peak driving season. This coupled with increased transportation costs (for getting gasoline to stations) will be the biggest factors driving gas prices in the Northeast and potentially neighboring regions."

The main effects will be felt in the Greater Philadelphia area, but the ripple effects will likely impact much of the northeast, she said.

The biggest questions, she said, was how long impacts will be felt and how severe they will be.