Stocks of US motor gasoline dropped by the most on record as suppliers drew from tank storage to replace gallons lost from oil refineries sidelined by hurricane Harvey. Levels of petrol in inventory declined by 8.4m barrels to 218.3m barrels in the week ended September 8, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. The fall was sharpest on the US east coast, where supplies were disrupted by the shutdown of a critical pipeline but whose roads were spared Harvey’s wrath. Petrol and diesel fuel markets have been jarred by hurricanes in the past two weeks. Harvey swept ashore in late August, flooding and damaging oil refineries and terminals on the Gulf of Mexico coast. At the weekend hurricane Irma lashed Florida, causing fuel shortages at petrol stations after a mass evacuation. Harvey affected up to a third of US refinery capacity as it struck Texas energy hubs such as Corpus Christi, Houston and Port Arthur. Damage from the storm and a lack of output from refineries prompted a temporary shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, which conveys refined fuels from the Gulf coast to markets such as Atlanta, Washington and New York. Retail petrol prices surged after Harvey cut supplies. On Monday they averaged $2.685 per gallon in the US, up from $2.399 two weeks before. Drivers nervous about scarce supply helped draw down gasoline stocks. US petrol demand rose by nearly half a million barrels per day to 9.6m b/d last week, the EIA said.