By Nicole Jao
NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) – The average U.S. gasoline price rose to its highest level in nearly four years, jumping more than 40% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February, according to data from the American Automobile Association or AAA.
Prices at the pump were near $4.18 a gallon on Tuesday, up 11 cents a gallon in this month and $1.19 a gallon since late February, AAA data showed.
Gasoline prices could climb further if crude oil prices continue to surge. Last week, Brent crude futures gained about 16% and U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose nearly 13% on growing supply worries as efforts to end the Iran war stalled. Oil prices had taken a breather earlier this month on hopes of the Strait of Hormuz reopening.
Refinery issues and scheduled maintenance in the Great Lakes region is expected to keep prices elevated for consumers in the Midwest, GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said.
BP’s 440,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana over the weekend experienced a brief power outage that caused one of its processing units to be shut down.
Phillips 66’s 356,000-barrel-per-day Wood River refinery in Illinois took its crude oil unit and some other parts of the refinery offline at the end of February for a 45-day maintenance period.
Marathon Petroleum’s 253,000-bpd Robinson refinery in Illinois also began planned maintenance in mid-March, with units expected to remain offline until mid-May.
Retailers in the Great Lakes region might raise prices again as early as today, De Haan said.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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