"NEW YORK - Gasoline futures surged on Wednesday to a two-year high while crude oil was down, as flooding and damage from Tropical Storm Harvey shut nearly a quarter of U.S. refinery capacity, curbing demand for crude while raising the risk of fuel shortages.

About 4.4 million barrels of U.S. refining capacity has been shut by Harvey, based on company reports and Reuters estimates. That represents nearly a quarter of U.S. refining production, and restarting plants under even the best conditions can take a week or more.

“As the refineries restructured the more competitive refineries have expanded,“ said Antoine Halff, Director of the Global Oil Markets Research Program at Columbia University, ”The capacity is now in the hands of a few very large players in a few very large plants.” "

Julia Simon reports for Reuters August 29, 2017. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Gas prices keep climbing as Harvey shutters oil refineries" (CBS News/AP) [3]

"Oil claws back some losses; U.S. crude set for steepest fall in a year" (Reuters) [4]

"Harvey Floods U.S. Refineries, Roils Global Fuel Markets" (Reuters) [5]