West coast gas prices rise after the Chevron fire
Gas prices are expected to rise on the West Coast after California oil plant, Chevron Corp. in Richmond set on fire Sunday.
Melissa Ritchie, a Richmond-based spokeswoman for Chevron said the Chevron fire may have been caused by a leaking diesel line.
All employees that were present, and evacuated during the Chevron fire, are okay and three have been treated for minor injuries.
While the fire was put out and brought down to a controlled level yesterday, several refining units have been shut down for a predicted few months.
Among those shut down was the No.4 crude unit, which produces 257,200 barrels per day. No one is certain when the crude unit is going to be reopened after the Chevron fire.
According to Bloomberg News, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston said, “I expect that if several units shut, gasoline prices will spike at least 10 cents today.”
According to The Associated Press, gas prices are expected to reach over four dollars a gallon in the West Coast area due to the Chevron fire.
But according to The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday welcomed an increase of 20 cents on regular unleaded gas prices. Thus far, prices have risen from $3.634 per gallon to $3.859 per gallon due to the Chevron fire.
The Chevron spokesman, Lloyd Avram, said a controlled burn was maintained in an effort not to let pollutants escape the building.
While it was reported on Aug. 1st that sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were released by the plant due to a failure there, the Chevron plant planned to continue supplying its customers.
According to Bloomberg News, during the Chevron fire, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrogen oxide, sulfuric acid and nitrogen dioxide were all released from the plant.
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