Tennessee Gas Prices Surging

NASHVILLE, TN — As the former Hurricane Harvey rolls out of Texas and Louisiana and towards Tennessee, gas prices are starting to jump across the Volunteer State.

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. Colonial Pipeline announced it was suspending operations in Houston, Pasadena and Cedar Grove Monday, but said that its facilities to the east could still still pump fuel as supplies become available. Altogether, a quarter of the entire Gulf Coast's refining capacity is offline, according to the Oil Price Information Service, equating to 2.5 million barrels per day.

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The uncertainty in supply has driven gas prices higher in Tennessee. The statewide average for a gallon of regular was $2.35 Thursday, up nine cents from Thursday's average and 21 cents higher than a week ago. Tennessee's average price is still about 15 cents below the national average.

Tennessee's metro areas all had increases from Thursday to Friday, ranging from seven cents in Memphis to 13 cents in the Tri-Cities. Nashville now has the highest average price statewide. The average prices in each metro area, according to AAA, are:

• Chattanooga: $2.29, up from $2.21 Thursday and $2.08 last week
• Clarksville: $2.32, up from $2.24 Thursday and $2.07 last week
• Tri-Cities: $2.34, up from $2.21 Thursday and $2.12 last week
• Knoxville: $2.32, up from $2.22 Thursday and $2.09 last week
• Memphis: $2.33, up from $2.26 Thursday and $2.15 last week
• Nashville: $2.42, up from $2.30 Thursday and $2.16 last week

AAA says a total price jump of 10 to 30 cents would not be unexpected over the next few weeks.

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