Gas prices will go up because of the Alaska pipeline disruption BP announced Monday, but don?t expect BP fuel pump prices in the Baltimore area to be any higher than competing brands of gasoline.
That?s the assessment of a local energy analyst and one of the largest owners of BP fuel stations in the Baltimore region.
“Just because a BP pipeline goes down, doesn?t mean BP [fuel] prices will go up and way out above other brands,” said John Phelps, executive vice president of Carroll Independent Fuel Co., a 99-year-old fuel distributor based in Baltimore.
In January, Carroll Independent Fuel completed its acquisition of 70 BP retail and wholesale fuel assets in the Baltimore and Washington area, making the company one of the largest owners of BP fuel stations in the region.
Phelps said because gasoline is a commodity, prices are set on the exchange markets with different fuel brands ? such as BP, Amoco and Shell ? adding their additives in the final process and thus having little impact on the fuel pump price.
But at least one energy analyst said BP?s announcement that it was shutting down its Alaska Pipeline in Prudhoe Bay for several months was a major disruption likely to send oil and gasoline prices higher in coming weeks.
BP officials said Monday the company will replace 16 miles of pipeline from its Prudhoe Bay oil field and production could be closed for weeks or months. The news drove oil prices up by more than $2 a barrel and boosted gasoline prices. The West Coast was expected to be squeezed particularly hard and the government was considering releasing oil from emergency stockpiles to ease an expected crunch.
BP is the world?s second-largest oil company, began shutting down pipelines Sunday after a leak was discovered.
Andy Weissman, an energy expert at Baltimore-based FTI Consulting, called the shutdown a major disruption that should drive gasoline prices up about 25 cents per gallon. He said prices could go higher if another “catastrophic” event occurs to disrupt oil supply.
But he added that Baltimore could benefit it the nation continues to push toward alternative fuel.
“One alternative source is coal to liquid and Baltimore is a major entry port of coal on the East Coast,” Weissman said.
The AP contributed to this report.
