Olympic Pipeline Restart Eases Gas Prices in Pacific Northwest

Gas prices in Oregon and Washington are easing after the Olympic Pipeline resumed operations, ending a three-week outage that pushed regional fuel costs to yearly highs.

PORTLAND, Ore. (P&GJ) — Gas prices in Oregon and Washington are beginning to fall as the Olympic Pipeline returns to service after a three-week outage that tightened supplies across the Pacific Northwest.

The 400-mile pipeline, which carries refined products from Washington refineries to regional terminals, went offline around Sept. 2. During the shutdown, gasoline had to be shipped by barge, raising costs and pushing pump prices to year-to-date highs.

In Oregon, the average price for regular gas climbed from $3.98 on Sept. 2 to just under $4.30 by mid-September. Washington drivers saw averages peak at $4.66. Both states posted some of the most expensive fuel prices in the nation last week.

With the pipeline now operational and stations switching to lower-cost winter-blend gasoline, prices are easing. The Oregon average dropped six cents this week to $4.23, while the national average slipped two cents to $3.17.

“The outage of the Olympic Pipeline as well as refinery maintenance in the West Coast region created very tight supplies here and drivers sure felt pain at the pumps earlier this month,” said Marie Dodds, public affairs director for AAA Oregon/Idaho. “Prices should keep falling in the coming weeks now that the pipeline is back in operation. Also, gas stations in Oregon can now sell winter-blend fuel, which costs less to produce than summer-blend gas, so that will also help to lower pump prices.”

AAA noted that California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii continue to have the nation’s highest pump prices, with Oregon ranked fourth at $4.23 a gallon.