Q: Can you explain to me how in the world gas goes up over 20 cents a gallon overnight?
—Ray King, Conley
A: Severe spikes in gas prices are rare and likely would be associated with a sudden "impact to existing supply," Gregg Laskoski, a petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, told Q&A on the News in an email.
That could be caused by “weather-related damages to refineries, pipelines, shipping channels and other infrastructure, electrical outages, hurricanes and flooding,” Laskoski wrote.
People sometimes rush to gas stations in times of weather emergencies, even if they’ve been asked not to fill up during those times.
“That puts undue stress on an already compromised supply infrastructure,” he wrote. “Their cars have full tanks and sit in their garages.”
Price increases could also result from a rise in crude oil prices, such as in 2008.
“We saw record retail prices after crude oil also hit a record level, and part of the toxic mix that year was the fall in the value of the U.S. dollar that induced huge investment into commodities,” Laskoski wrote.
That was “followed by the collapse of the economy and the decline in both the U.S. dollar and global commodities like crude oil.”
Q: What happened to the AJC News Quiz that used to be in the center of the Metro Section? It ran on Wednesday and contained five questions. Could this be run again?
—Sara Westbrook, Cumming
A: The News Quiz was discontinued about a month ago. It won't be revived.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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