Heat wave impacts prices at the gas pump: Weather could continue to have impact

Gas prices are up sharply. The reason: the heat.

“Gas prices suddenly soared over the last week due to heat-related refinery outages that impacted some of the largest refineries in the country, at a time when summer gasoline demand peaks and as gasoline inventories slid to their lowest July level since 2015,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

The refinery outages have pushed prices up 15.8 cents per gallon nationally, to $3.72 per gallon. Virginia gas prices are up 17.2 cents per gallon, sitting at $3.59 per gallon on the open of business on Monday.

The national average price of diesel has jumped 15.5 cents in the last week and stands at $3.99 per gallon.

The price of oil is also a factor in the increases, De Haan said, with the price passing the $80-per-barrel mark.

Drivers “may want to brace for potentially higher prices,” De Haan said, with the peak of hurricane season upcoming.