Terry Richards | The Valdosta Daily TimesOne retailer in Valdosta offered gas over the weekend for more than $3 a gallon as prices soared in the wake of Hurricane Harvey's disruption of Texas oil refineries and the shutdown of a key gas pipeline.

VALDOSTA — Gasoline prices in Lowndes County skyrocketed to levels not seen in years late last week in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s disruption of U.S. oil refineries, with at least one Valdosta retailer’s prices topping $3 a gallon.

The average price of a gallon of unleaded fuel in Valdosta Sunday was $2.54, an increase of a staggering 35 cents in seven days, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The lowest price reported in the city Sunday was $2.43 a gallon at a retailer on U.S. 84, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com. The highest Valdosta gas price reported to gasbuddy Sunday was $2.65 at a West Hill Avenue store.

Not all gas retailers are listed on gasbuddy, which depends on volunteer reporters; one retailer on North Patterson Street not listed on gasbuddy Sunday advertised fuel for $3.09 a gallon.

Nationally, the average price of gasoline Sunday was $2.62 a gallon, up 26 cents from seven days earlier, while Georgia’s average of $$2.67 was up a whopping 42 cents in the same period, according to the auto club.

Hurricane Harvey charged ashore in Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 storm. Along with record rains and tens of thousands of people displaced, Harvey forced the closure of many of the oil refineries along the Gulf Coast, having a knock-on effect on the nation’s gasoline prices.

“The refinery shutdowns are particularly hurting the eastern part of the U.S.,” said Dan McTeague, senior petroleum analyst for gasbuddy.com. “Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio are seeing 29 cent hikes,” he said Friday. McTeague expected the Valdosta area would see price jumps of 30 cents a gallon or more over the weekend.

As much as a third of Texas’ refineries are not producing, McTeague said. Prices could go even higher with spot shortages as people scramble to find fuel, he said.

Georgia is also feeling the pinch of the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, a 5,500 mile fuel link between Houston, Texas, and New York City, McTeague said. A large percentage of Georgia’s petroleum fuels is delivered by the Colonial Pipeline, The pipeline’s Texas operations were shut down by the hurricane, and Colonial’s owners will try to have the entire network up and running Tuesday, according to a company statement.

How long the price hikes last depends on how long it takes to get the refineries up and running and how long it takes to get the Colonial Pipeline flowing, McTeague said.

In Friday market action, benchmark U.S. crude added 6 cents to $47.29 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, fell 11 cents to $52.75 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline prices, which surged during the week, declined 3 cents to $1.75 a gallon.

It’s not clear how much damage Hurricane Harvey will cause to the region or to the U.S. economy. But investors expect at least some companies will benefit: those that will be involved in the cleanup after the flood waters recede. Consulting and engineering services company Tetra Tech climbed 75 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $43.35, for a 7 percent gain during the week. Environmental services company Clean Harbors and radioactive and hazardous waste services company U.S. Ecology took small losses Friday, but for the week, Clean Harbors rose almost 5 percent and U.S. Ecology jumped 8.5 percent.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.