Hurricane Isaias Threatens Gulf Refineries, Could Push Diesel Toward $7

Yahoo Finance·9 Oct 2026·

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Commodity Macro Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels

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Hurricane Isaias is forecast to miss the oil industry's biggest hubs along the Gulf Coast but could still nudge fuel prices higher if it triggers power outages that shut down refineries for processing crude. Chevron's facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Vertex Energy's refinery in Mobile, Alabama, which together constitute 2.4% of the nation's refining capacity, are at risk of flooding and power outages, said Andrew Lipow, a Houston-based oil analyst. Carl Larry of the energy analysis firm Enverus said that if refineries such as Chevron's shut down completely, it could take them weeks to recover and fuel prices could jump more significantly, with diesel prices that already are above $6 potentially approaching $7. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said the affected refining capacity is probably somewhere in the ballpark of 500,000 barrels a day, which may have a small impact on gas prices primarily in the Gulf Coast but likely would not impact gas prices nationally. The storm already has caused widespread shutdowns in offshore oil production across the region that provides about 15% of U.S. crude, with personnel from 121 production platforms, about a third of the facilities in the Gulf, evacuated and almost two-thirds of oil production shut down, equal to almost 1.3 million barrels a day, according to the federal Marine Minerals Administration. Prices for Brent crude, the international standard, were above $104 a barrel Friday, a price that has varied between $96 and nearly $110 over the last month driven by uncertainty over the war with Iran.

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