NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The winter blast felt in Tennessee and across a big part of the country is pushing gas prices back up.
According to AAA, a month ago gas was nearly 20 cents cheaper – last week it was close to 10 cents cheaper. But why is all of this happening? A big reason is because of what is happening in Texas.
Refineries there make up about 20% of the country's capacity. So, while Texas is dealing with a lot of challenges right now because of the storm, experts with Gas Buddy says this is a big hit for gasoline production.
“Over a dozen refineries in Texas have gone offline because of the extreme cold. Refineries are outdoors, exposed to the elements, in sub-freezing temperatures that are not good for them. They're not prepared for that,” said Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.
The good news is it won’t take long for refineries to come back online, but we can expect to see gas prices rise over the next week.
More than 40 states are seeing higher gas prices compared to last year. Right now, the average gas price in Tennessee is floating around $2.36, according to AAA.
