Power outage at refinery is caused gas price jump

Gas pumps across the province saw a hike in cost recently, with many seeing a ten-cent or more increase during the weekend.

According to GasBuddy Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan, the Canadian Prairies and the United States’ Midwest have seen gas prices increase due to a power outage at a major refinery near Chicago. 

He said severe weather knocked out the power at the Exxon Mobil refinery last Monday and it just recently got the power back up and running. 

“It’s very rare that we see a refinery lose complete power for almost a week, but that’s been the case. As a result, this facility has not been able to produce the millions of litres of gasoline and diesel that it produces on a daily basis,” DeHaan said. 

DeHaan explained that prices could go up depending on how much damage was done during the outage. 

“The refinery just received power again here in the last couple of days. Their damage assessment will now begin and hopefully, there’s no further damage and this refinery can get back online here over the next week,” he said. 

The good news? There is relief in sight. DeHaan figures prices could go back down again once any repairs are done and the refinery is back online. 

“Probably as we get closer to early to mid-August, I think this refinery should be able to make repairs and get online if there are any repairs to be made. And with us now facing the last 30 days or so of the driving season, I do think that eventually, whether it be a couple of weeks or beyond, that we will see price relief. It’s simply a matter of when,” DeHaan said. 

The average gas price in Saskatchewan is 162.1, which is up about 1.1 per cent compared to last month. 

As for diesel prices, DeHaan said it isn’t being affected as much as gasoline because the demand is much lower. Estevan's gas prices have remained stable, averaging about 153.9 cents per litre in most stations.