Tennessee Gas Prices Climb Through Labor Day Weekend

NASHVILLE, TN — Gas prices continue to climb in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and shutdown and scale-back of refineries and pipelines across the Gulf Coast, but AAA says prices should start normalizing soon and then quickly falling by mid- to late September.

Refineries throughout southeast Texas shut down ahead of Harvey's landfall last week, with several more going off-line as the storm caused historic flooding from Corpus Christi into Houston, the nation's oil hub and fourth-largest city.

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Ten Gulf Coast refineries remain shut down. Six refineries are in the process of assessing damage and restarting with two refineries in the Gulf Coast region are operating at reduced rates. The Department of Energy released 500,000 barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the EPA has allowed the early sale of so-called winter blend fuel in 12 states, including Tennessee.

AAA said that refineries that have already been inspected show lower levels of damage than anticipated, which may result in a quicker recovery than originally thought.

Tennessee's statewide average for a gallon of regular was $2.57 Tuesday, up 39 cents in one week.

The average prices in each of Tennessee's metro area, according to AAA, are:

• Chattanooga: $2.52, up from $2.10 last week
• Clarksville: $2.56, up from $2.12
• Tri-Cities: $2.52, up from $2.17
• Knoxville: $2.58, up from $2.15
• Memphis: $2.48, up from $2.20
• Nashville: $2.64, up from $2.21

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