Despite fears earlier this week that the shutdown of an Alaskan oil pipeline would be felt in motorist’s wallets, most local service stations haven’t raised gasoline prices – yet.
Between Monday and Friday, the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett average for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel went up about two cents, from just under $3.05 to just under $3.07, according to AAA.
Around Everett, the majority stations didn’t change the big numbers on their signs all week. Of the few that did, a couple were actually charging less for fuel at week’s end than they were Monday.
Several events have helped. On Thursday, the cost of crude oil on the world market dropped 3 percent – to its lowest level since late July. The uncovering of a terrorist plot to blow up jetliners convinced oil traders that travelers might avoid flying, reducing demand for jet fuel. Crude prices were down again Friday.
Also, after initially announcing Monday that it would shut down the entire Prudhoe Bay oil field, BP found an oil transit pipeline on the western side of the field wasn’t damaged by corrosion like a pipeline on the eastern side.
That has raised hopes that the field, which normally produces 400,000 barrels per day of oil, could still turn out 185,000 barrels a day.
Additionally, the BP announcement came at a time when U.S. gasoline inventories are relatively high.
Even if they end up not going up dramatically, don’t expect fuel prices to go down much either, though. A prolonged shutdown of the Prudhoe Bay pipeline could begin to hurt oil shipments to West Coast refineries in a few more weeks. And gasoline prices traditionally rise around Labor Day weekend.
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