Continuing production problems at a Texas refinery have pushed gas prices in Denver and Colorado higher than the national average, reported Monday.
Prices in Denver rose 4.4 cents during the past week to an average or $2.77 per gallon. Statewide, the average per-gallon costs went up 4.7 cents to $2.80, making it one of only seven states to see prices increase.
Nationally, prices fell 3 cents to $2.73 per gallon.
Colorado’s climb can be attributed to refining-unit problems at a WRB Refining plant in Borger, Texas, said , senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. The refinery is a joint venture of Phillips66 and Cenovus Energy.
Colorado has only one gasoline refinery, so the stations here rely on supply delivered by manufacturers in other states, including the WRB plant, Speer said.
“For it to be down one of its gas processing units, that’s definitely crimping the gas prices in the Colorado market,” he said.
Fixes to the fluid catalytic cracking unit at the refinery and a subsequent restart of gasoline processing were planned for last Tuesday. However, that has yet to occur, Speer said.
Alicia Wallace: 303-954-1939, awallace@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aliciawallace
