“With last week’s extreme cold closing millions of barrels a day at the refinery’s capacity, gas prices have seen their biggest weekly rise in some time,” said GasBuddy oil chief Patrick De Haan. “The price jump was the result of about a dozen refineries, mainly in Texas, which were forced to close because cold temperatures threatened to wreak havoc on their exposed equipment. With cold weather behind, price increases start to slow at the end of this week or next week, and while these refineries are back up and running in a short time, we may see gas prices starting to fall in the coming weeks. However, as we get closer to the spring weather, we are likely to see another long-term increase in prices as refineries begin to transition to summer gasoline, so drivers shouldn’t be jumping for joy yet.
