By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.Com
September 13, 2010
The price of gasoline -- stable over the last two or three weeks --
rose about two cents a gallon over the weekend, pushed higher by a
leak in a major oil pipeline from Canada.
Nationwide, the average price of self-serve regular rose two cents a gallon over the weekend, but rose significantly more in the Midwestern states served by the pipeline. In Illinois, for example, the average price of self-serve regular today is $2.91 cents a gallon, up a nickel from Sunday's price. It's 12 cents a gallon higher than it was a week ago.
Michigan and Indiana have experienced similar rapid increases in gas prices.
Pipeline leak
The problem began late last week when Enbridge Energy Partners LP shut down its pipeline because of a leak in the pipe at Romeoville, Ill. The company reported today that more than 6,000 barrels of crude leaked from the line before it could be shut down. The company says the pipeline can move transport 670,000 barrels of oil from Canada to the U.S. each day.
The line, which serves various refineries, has interrupted the supply of crude oil used to create gasoline and other products. The company declined to say how long it believed the pipeline will remain shut down, but analysts think the spike in gasoline prices it has caused will be temporary.
Even so, commodity traders have seized on the leak as a reason to bid up the price of oil. Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose $.85 to $77.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 3.8 percent since the pipeline was shut down on Thursday.
