The largest refinery in the U.S. is temporarily shutting down following devastating local floods from Hurricane Harvey and the aftermath, adding to a raft of factors driving gasoline prices higher. The Saudi-owned Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, began what it called “a controlled shutdown” at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

The closure marks the latest in a series of outages at Texas Gulf Coast refineries that have led to a nationwide spike in gasoline prices. GasBuddy.com petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan estimated Wednesday that gas prices would increase 15 cents to 25 cents per gallon nationwide as a result of Harvey — up from an initial forecast of 5 to 15 cents.

The nationwide average as of Wednesday morning was $2.40, up from $2.34 a week ago, according to AAA.

With Motiva down and other recent closures, about 25% of the nation’s gasoline refining capacity is offline, GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said.

“It’s a chilling effect on the refining industry, which is a dire state right now,” DeHaan said.

The Motiva operation generated about 635,000 barrels per day, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

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“Return to service is contingent upon recession of flood waters in the area,” Motiva spokesperson Angela Goodwin said in a statement. “Our priority remains the safety of our employees and the community.”

The plant was already operating at 60% capacity as of Tuesday afternoon and 40% on Tuesday evening.

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