Gas prices are expected to spike significantly in the Midwest in the next few days, according to GasBuddy – an app that helps people find the cheapest gas near where they are.
It said drivers in Missouri, Oklahoma, South and North Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota should expect gas prices to go up anywhere from 50 cents to $1 per gallon over the next several days.
There are few details on what will drive the spike, according to a news release, but trade sources have told GasBuddy that a refinery outage may be to blame.
The organization’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan said a refinery that goes down has contractual obligations to supply certain volumes of gas to stations even if it doesn’t have enough supply to meet those obligations. If that happens, the refinery has to find another refinery from which to buy gasoline.
He said motorists should be prepared for increases that could last until a waiver is issued or the change to winter gasoline happens on September 16.
