Gasoline prices are up more than 4 cents from last week and experts predict drivers could see a jump of as much as 10 percent or more headed into the busy Labor Day travel season.
More than 2 million barrels of refining capacity were taken offline because of Hurricane Harvey, which has pounded the southeast Texas coastline with heavy winds and drenching rains. Heavy flooding is reported along the Texas coastline with some areas receiving as much as 50 inches of rain.
Patrick DeHaan, an analyst with fuel tracking site GasBuddy.com, said higher prices at the pump are already being reported across the country.
"The national average gas price could rise over $2.43 a gallon this week, the highest level in nearly two years due to Hurricane Harvey disruptions," DeHaan said. "The Gulf Coast over the next week will probably see prices go up anywhere from 15 cents to 30 cents per gallon," he said.
The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline is up 1.3 cents from yesterday to $2.375 a gallon, according to GasBuddy. The current price is an increase of 6.3 cents from last month's average and 15.7 cents over last year.
DeHaan said customers will likely see gas prices increase on Tuesday into Wednesday. The price increase is expected to be temporary based on how long refineries along the Gulf Coast are out of commission and repairs that need to be made.
Refineries in Corpus Christi account for 4.2 percent of the total U.S. oil refining capacity. Houston is home to 11refineries that represent 14 percent of processing capacity in the U.S.
The refineries supply gasoline to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.