Minnesota Gas Prices Soar, Just In Time For Labor Day

TWIN CITIES, MN — Minnesota drivers hitting the highway this Labor Day weekend should expect to pay a few more bucks at the gas pump thanks, at least in part, to Hurricane Harvey. On Friday, the average price for a gallon of gas in Minnesota was $2.40, up from $2.28 a week ago and $2.25 a year ago.

The national gas price average Friday was $2.51. Drivers filling up for the Labor Day weekend will likely pay the highest prices for the holiday since 2015 because of the hurricane, says AAA spokeswoman Christine Delise. The combination of Labor Day travel, resulting in higher gasoline demand, and the tightened supply levels in the Gulf Coast means consumers are likely to see gas prices increase up to 15 cents in the coming week.

With some refineries and pipelines shut down in Texas and Louisiana as Harvey barrels through, fuel supply delivery volumes to the Mid-Atlantic region will be squeezed, Delise says, as refineries on the East Coast and other regions ship gasoline in September to the affected Gulf states to offset refinery downtime. If exports surge, this could drive gas prices even higher, potentially topping the 2017 gas price average high of $2.42 in March.

However, this should be a short-term price spike. AAA officials expect prices to drop by mid-to-late September, when refiners should be back online and gas stations begin selling the cheaper winter-blend gasoline.

About 37.2 million Americans are expected to travel for Labor Day weekend, the AAA's highest estimate for the holiday since 2008 and up from 35.5 million in 2015, the last time the auto club did a Labor Day travel estimate. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minnesota Patch, click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook , and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Check Gas Prices On The Road

Check out the top 10 lowest gas prices in Minnesota here: GasBuddy.
AAA has online tools to help drivers save on gas:

• Fuel Price Finder locates the lowest fuel price in your area.
• Fuel Cost Calculator helps budget travel expenses.
• TripTik Mobile plots fuel prices along your travel route.

Deb Belt (Patch National Staff) contributed to this report.

Image via Shutterstock