Gasoline Prices Rise Amid Refining Disruptions After Katrina

As the Gulf Coast's refineries struggle to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, gasoline prices are surging, driven by a combination of supply bottlenecks and excessive demand. Despite the International Energy Agency's pledge to supply the market with an additional 60 million barrels of oil and gasoline, President Bush's efforts to address the crisis are being criticized for failing to address the root cause of the problem: a nation with wildly inefficient gas-guzzling habits.

Key Takeaways:

• The current gasoline shortage is a result of supply bottlenecks in the refining process, which have been exacerbated by the destruction of Gulf Coast refineries.
• The International Energy Agency has pledged to supply the market with an additional 60 million barrels of oil and gasoline over the next 30 days.
• President Bush's efforts to address the crisis include lending oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and streamlining the refining process by relaxing environmental standards.
• The US consumes 85 million barrels of oil per day, leaving only 1 million barrels of spare capacity, the lowest level in three decades.
• Gasoline prices are expected to remain elevated until at least next spring, due to ongoing disruptions in the refining process and the risk of further supply interruptions.
• The damage to refineries is also causing a drawdown of oil stockpiles, which will impact home heating fuel supplies this winter.

Statistics:

• 85 million barrels: the daily world consumption of oil, driven mainly by gasoline consumption in the US and industrialization in China and India.
• 1 million barrels: the current spare capacity, the lowest level in three decades.
• 60 million barrels: the additional oil and gasoline pledged by the International Energy Agency over the next 30 days.
• 30 days: the timeframe for the International Energy Agency's pledge to supply the market with an additional 60 million barrels of oil and gasoline.

Sources:

• "In Katrina's Wake, Ripples in the Gasoline Supply" by The New York Times (no specific date mentioned)
• The New York Times, "A Nation AWash in Oil, and Gas Prices Soar"