Isaias Puts 500,000 Barrels a Day of Refining Capacity at Risk

(Bloomberg) —

Nearly 500,000 barrels a day of oil-refining capacity sit in the projected path of Hurricane Isaias, raising the risk that a US fuel market with no supplies to spare will lose critical output.

Along with the potential human toll within the storm’s path, hurricane damage to fuel-making facilities would threaten to push up pump prices across the country, with limited slack in a historically tight fuels market. Nationally, gasoline prices averaged $4.36 a gallon as of Wednesday, according to AAA. Diesel prices set an all-time record in September and were at about $6.28 a gallon on Wednesday.