Gas above $3 per gallon blamed on hurricanes, growing global demand

Check the prices at your nearest gas station and you may be tempted to think August and September of 2005 were just bad dreams.

The record-high gasoline prices that stunned Americans in the aftermath of summer’s Gulf Coast hurricanes are gone. A gallon of regular, worth more than $3 mere months ago, now costs about $2.23 throughout California. That’s only a little more than the $2.05 of one year ago.
But don’t expect the relief to last. Energy analysts consider the current low prices an aberration, destined to disappear.

The plunge in gas prices represents a strange goodbye gift from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. After the storms smashed Gulf of Mexico oil wells and flooded coastal refineries, gasoline imports to the United States surged. We’re still working through the glut. It will probably vanish in the new year.

San Francisco Chronicle