How have hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected oil prices?
The natural disasters of Hurricane Katrina and Rita in August 2005 added to the problem of reduced worldwide oil production. Following the hurricanes, the price of gas spiked to $3 or more a gallon and as late as October, three refineries remained shut down from Hurricane Katrina and four from Hurricane Rita. In total, the loss of crude oil and natural gas production from August 26 through October 11 in the Gulf Mexico was reported to be 55 million barrels. As a result, the winter of 2006 will cause residential heating costs to rise due to hurricane-related supply losses. Households heated with oil are expected to pay $378 more, natural gas heated homes will pay $350 more, and electrical heated homes will pay $38 more. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil is also expected to rise in 2006 to between $64-$65 a barrel and world oil prices will remain around $63 a barrel. Although the current price of oil may seem high, when annual prices of crude oil from 1946 to the present are
