Gas prices could rise a bit due to Barry

One of the effects of storm Barry is that many oil refineries suspended operations in anticipation of a brutal weather event.

Now, even though Barry isn’t nearly the bad boy many had predicted, gasoline prices may see a slight rise nationwide.

Mississippi’s prices at the pump remain among the lowest, if not the lowest, in the nation, with an average per gallon price of $2.389, according to GasBuddy.com. That’s only $0.003 higher than low price leader Louisiana.

In Warren County and Vicksburg, some gas prices are lower than the state’s average. The Shell station at 3140 Indiana Ave. was charging $2.29 per gallon for regular on Sunday, July 14, reports GasBuddy, and Valero at 25 Fisher Ferry Road was charging $2.35.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is around $2.80. At the high end of the national spectrum are Hawaii and California, with average regular prices at $3.604 and $3.721, respectively.

The U.S. subsidizes fossil fuel industries to the tune of some $20 billion a year, about a quarter of which goes to the oil industry. Without those subsidies our gasoline prices could be more than $4.00 per gallon, in line with prices worldwide. The average price of gasoline around the world on July 8 was $1.11 per liter, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com, or $4.202 per gallon.