GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — If you're wondering why gas prices seem higher than usual lately, the explanation could be damage caused by Hurricane Ida.
Green Bay gas prices have risen 5.0 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.99 per gallon as of Monday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 127 stations in Green Bay.
Gas prices in Green Bay are 7.9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand $1.02 per gallon higher than a year ago.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, says gas prices across the country are unusually high for this time of year. While normally demand for gas decreases in the fall, causing prices to drop, he says prices nationwide have been steadily increasing.
De Haan attributes the rising prices to the damage to oil production caused by Hurricane Ida.
"As a result of Hurricane Ida, we've lost about 35 million barrels of oil production that would otherwise go into U.S inventories," De Haan said.
With gasoline demand remaining relatively high for the season and oil inventories remaining relatively tight, De Haan says the damage is preventing the decline in gas prices that would normally occur this time of year. He says it's not unusual for hurricane season to affect gas prices.
"It depends how long the storms impact oil refining and how long they impact oil production, De Haan said. "Hurricane Ida was a storm that developed relatively quickly, turned into a major storm, and some of the production in the Gulf of Mexico is still down from Hurricane Ida."
He expects it will take a couple more weeks before we begin to see the normal seasonal decline in gas prices.
"It would surprise me if prices don't go down in the weeks ahead simply because gasoline demand is starting to drop off," De Haan said. "This is the time of year that people get back into their routines, road trips and summer travel is basically wrapped up and so demand for gasoline falls and along with that we normally see prices decline."
