Oil prices are up, are refinery shutdowns to blame?

Inclement weather over a large swath of the country is doing more than causing power outages and canceling flights. News reports say cold weather has shut down several U.S. oil refineries, causing crude prices to spike.

LyondellBasell Industries shutdown the large crude distillation unit and two hydrotreaters on Friday at its 268,000-barrel-per-day Houston refinery due to extreme cold and the winter storm impacting much of the U.S. and Gulf Coast, Reuters reported, citin