California Gas Prices Expected To Spike Due To Drone Strike

LOS ANGELES, CA — It was a Saudi gas refinery that was hit with a devastating drone strike Sunday, but it’s California drivers who will feel the pain.

Gas prices across the state are expected to shoot up in the upcoming days and weeks due to the strike on a strategic Saudi refinery allegedly by Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels. Normally, this time of year is when demand falls along with the cost of gas. Instead, prices may rise from 25 to 50 cents per gallon, experts warn.

“It was a pretty significant strike, and the attack took about 5.7 million barrels of crude oil per day off the market,” said Jeffrey Spring, a spokesman for the Automobile Club of
Southern California. “That's about 6 percent of the global supply.”

California gets more of its crude oil — about 30 percent — from foreign sources, than the rest of the nation. The impact of Sunday’s strike is likely to hit the Golden State harder than elsewhere.

By Monday, global oil prices climbed 10 percent higher after the attack on the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, CBS reported.

Still, it will take days to get a clear picture of just what to expect at the pump, added Spring.
“It’s all sort of up in the air right now,” he said. “In a couple more days we will have a clearer view of it.”

There remain several factors at play. Experts are looking to see how long it takes the Saudis to get the damaged refinery operating again and whether the nation will tap into strategic oil reserves to offset the impact.

Prior to the strike, there was a glut of crude oil in global reserves. Combined with the traditional drop in demand over the fall and winter, prices were on the decline.