7 News Belize

Hurricane Harvey Hurts Consumers at Pump
posted (September 4, 2017)
Tonight the government is warning consumers to brace for higher gas prices - and they say it's because of Hurricane Harvey, not broke Belmopan.

A rare press release on fuel prices says that Hurricane Harvey caused the oil refineries in the Houston area to shut down - which has caused a spike in pump prices across the USA - since Texas refines about 25 percent of all crude oil in the U.S.

Now, if you're scratching your head and saying but don't Belize's fuel products come from Venezuela? Well, not all of it - and not since that country has been plunged into a domestic crisis. The government release notes that Belize imports a substantial quantity of refined fuel from Houston - to supplement the inconsistent supply from Venezuela.

But with this supply source temporarily shut down, PUMA gas now has to truck fuel in overland from El Salvador. It's more expensive, and that price change will be reflected at the pump - where prices are already cripplingly high. The release says, quote, "pump prices … are expected to increase in the days ahead. The extent of the increase is not known at this time." End quote. We'll keep you posted as to when the change goes into effect. Prices last increased less than two weeks ago.

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