Gas Prices Soar After Big Spring Refinery Explosion
By: Candace Hutchins
Updated: February 19, 2008
Monday's explosion at the Alon refinery in Big Spring is partly to blame for the skyrocketing gas prices. Oil closed at more than 100 dollars a barrel Tuesday for the first time ever. The Associated Press reports that there's no single driver behind the sharp price jump but that the refinery explosion played a big part. The Alon refinery produces 67,000 barrels of oil a day. That's a little more than 1.3 million gallons of gas each day. If the refinery is out of production for two months as expected, that's 72 million gallons of gas that will be lost. AAA says the national average for a gallon of gas shot up nearly two cents overnight, for a $3.03 national average. Most stations around Lubbock are average right around the $3.00 mark, that's up more than ten cents from the state average just last week. Experts say the worst thing folks can do is run out and fill up their cars right now. The increase in sudden demand will only fuel the already rising prices.
