Gasoline Prices May Surge During Summer Hurricane Season, BNP Paribas Says

Below-normal inventories and reduced fuel production may worsen the effect hurricanes have on gasoline prices this summer, according to a report by BNP Paribas SA, France’s largest bank.

Gains this month in U.S. gasoline inventories have failed to bring supplies to normal levels, said analyst Eoin O’Callaghan, the report’s author. The switch to ethanol as the primary additive in gasoline will reduce overall production of the fuel by about 5 percent, the May 19 report said. As many as 10 hurricanes are expected in the Atlantic this year.

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