Harvey driving gas prices up

Harvey forced some oil refineries to shut down and consumers will begin feeling those effects in their wallets.

Rizwan Shuja is feeling the effects of Harvey at a couple of his gas stations already.

“We sold a lot of gas at all my gas stations. A lot of gas stations ran out of gas and gas companies are not supplying fuel,” said Shuja.

He ran out of regular unleaded at his Luling and Marble Falls stations, something that's happening all over town.

“The super, we have, but 99 percent of people don't want the expensive gas, they want the cheaper gas,” said Shuja.

AAA Texas says the states that will be most impacted are Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, possibly Georgia and Virginia.

“Once the hurricane makes landfall and we have these refineries shut down in the Gulf, and they've been shut down for several days, the prices tend to go up,” said Daniel Armbruster, spokesperson with AAA Texas.

Prices will go up, but not as much as you think.

“In the state of Texas in the last week, we've seen a nine cent increase in the statewide average. Right now the statewide average is $2.22 for a gallon of regular. Last week it was $2.13,” said Armbruster.

Armbruster says they expect Corpus Christi refineries to open back up this Labor Day weekend. The Houston area may take a little longer.

"We have a priority right now, fuel priority must be for first responders so we can keep people safe and rescued and once we finish with the first responders needs, we can get into other issues. But having talked to leaders of energy companies, they are working as swiftly as possible to ensure fuel operations will be restored quickly," said Gov. Greg Abbott.

As cities begin to heal from Harvey, refineries across the coast will get back in business. Prices may be up right now, but there is a silver lining.

“This won't last very long, historically we've seen this before. It tends to last a brief period, and we see the market come back to normal,” said Armbruster.