Gas at Last!!

[PatRobinson]

Hi Guys,
Many people around the country don't know but since hurricane Ike there has been a growing shortage of gas here in North Carolina and perhaps other areas of the south. The local news is full of stories about people going to 20+ gas stations before they found a place that would ration them a little gas. Other stories have told about people actually following gas tanker trucks in order to get in line to get gas. Our club had to postpone our club meeting this coming weekend over concerns about gas availability. I am retired so I just about stopped driving for the last 2 weeks.

Man, I tell you all those long lines of cars at gas stations reminded me of that 1973 oil crisis mess.

The good news from the local media is that large shipments of gas are coming starting today through next week. This is important to our club because we should finally have adequate gas supplies available to competitors traveling to our upcoming fall contest. Today, I personally got to fill up my own car for the first time in 2 weeks so things are finally looking better. 


                                                                                     Pat Robinson

   

[EddyR]

Pat is correct. I was going to go to the Northern Virgina contest if the weather held off. I checked for gas this morning on the east side of Charlotte and there was a no gas at any of the stations I went to so I stopped driving around so as to save the gas I had. I was afraid to get somewhere up Interstate 85 and not have gas.

Ed

[Wayne Collier]

Interesting.  I'm in a small town about 240 miles north of Houston and we've seen no hint of a shortage of gasoline here.  Prices did inflate a little in anticipation of Ike but have settled back to about what they were a few weeks before the storm.  Maybe a little less.  Work has been a little harried because of the storm.  I work at a Regional Distribution Center for Lowe's, and we've been trying to adapt our product shipments to the affected areas so that we can supply things that are needed and helpful.  When I was first employed there I thought the company was just being oppertunistic when we made up special loads for storm affected areas.  I've come to realize that there are things that the people in those areas need, and if we can get ample quantities there for a reasonable price it is a help to those people.  They can't repair and rebuild without materials.  If the company I work for and other similar large retailers get the materials there at close to our everyday prices it also helps cut down on some price gouging by less scrupulus people.  A few years ago we had a major power outage here locally that lasted several days.  A couple of indidviduals showed up with a truck load of generators that they sold off the side of the road.  I don't know that these guys were price gouging ,but I see the potential.  We've cut back on shipments of sesonal items like holiday decorations and focused on supplies for clean upo and repair along with some chainsaws and generators.

I don't mean to hijack the subject of fuel prices.  I've just been busy and haven't posted much lately.  I guess I partly want to say how thankful I am to not have had any great damage from the storm and to share some of how it has affected me. 

[PatRobinson]

Hi Wayne,

Apparently our regional gas supply problems in the southeast were caused by problems with the pipelines.

The day after Ike hit, gas prices jumped 80 cent or more per gallon but then the price went back down after a few days.

 What did happen was station after station began to run out of fuel and sprouted bags over all the pump hoses. The shortages led to panic buying which only made things worse.

The local news has reported on incidents of "pump rage" between customers as frustration has mounted over spending hours just trying to find enough gas so someone could get to work and live their lives. My wife and I are lucky enough to be retired so we just stopped most of our driving and avoided most of the madness.

A candidate for NC governor said this is why we need to drill off the east coast of the US and run pipelines to onshore refineries and then out to pipelines for national distribution. If a storm takes out the gulf gas infrastructure then the east coast would keep everyone supplied or if the east coast takes a hit then the gulf would maintain the supply. This just makes common sense as a way to keep the country moving. Of course common sense can be in short supply in various halls of power.

Wayne, I am glad you didn't receive major damage from the storm. That's a blessing.

                                                                                             Best Wishes ,
                                                                                                                 Pat Robinson

[Dick Byron]

I don't wish to start any political discussion here but this shortage should show everyone who to vote for in the up coming elections. Gas here in the Dallas area can be found for $3.37, if your lucky, but $3.69 if your not. Plenty to go around.

[EddyR]

The problem is still very real here on the east side of Charlotte. I have seen many cars sitting on the side of the road out of gas this morning,Sunday 8/28/08. All our gas comes from Houston via pipeline and many of the refineries have not come on line. Only one in 20 stations have gas. Some have $50 limit and one had $20 limit.
Ed
Ed

[Alan Hahn]

I don't wish to start any political discussion here but this shortage should show everyone who to vote for in the up coming elections. Gas here in the Dallas area can be found for $3.37, if your lucky, but $3.69 if your not. Plenty to go around.

Yes it should. I am amazed that with Texas and Louisiana, being the one hit by hurricanes, that North Carolina, Georgia are the  ones low on gas, but gas is plentiful in Dallas. Yes, makes a lot of sense. I wonder who gas their finger on the oil pipeline.

[EddyR]

In the paper today it said that Charlotte has a much lower number of fuel pumps per person than the national average. Same article said that 1 in 20 stations had gas. More pumps would not help but maybe more tanks like Ty mentioned would.MCLS canceled it's club meeting this weekend because of the gas shortage.
Ed

[EddyR]

Ty   Rebecca and I went to Denver in June and our jet must have used ? . What kind of miliage does a 737 get?
Ed

[Garf]

I believe a 737 gets gallonage per mile

Thats pounds per hour. 

[Wayne Collier]

I've never been to North Carolina, but as many pipeline terminals as there are across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi I would have thought that there would be an interconnect somewhere that would allow differing source areas for fuel.  Like for instance switch from Houston to Baton Rouge for supply.  If it is a really old pipeline there may not have been a provision for that when it was built. Even so, it seems strange to me that a pipeline from Houston to North Carolina would not intersect another delivery line at some point.  It also seems strange to me that there wouldn't be a few storage facilities along a line that long. 
Texans are very used to oil and fuel operations -- maybe numb to them.  Within less than 70 miles from my home I've seen a school across the street from a pipeline terminal with multiple storage tanks and a soccer complex built among several natural gas wells and storage tanks.

[Clayton Smith]

The petroleum tank farms at Greensboro North Carolina are among the largest on the East Coast.

[Charlie Pate]

I went to the NHRA drags this week end 27-28.
Gas was in available in about one out of five stations at 3.99 per gallon ,to 4.25 .
Three and one half hours away in Memphis , they had all the fuel you wanted as low priced as 3.46 a gallon.
At the NHRA track a 32.oz bottle of coke(approx.) was going for 4.00 bucks. I did not hear a complaint.
1 gal. gas 3.49
1 quart of coke 4.00
 Go figure.   

[PatRobinson]

Hi Guys,
It is interesting that Charlie saw that 1 in 5 stations had gas because that is better than 1 in 20 stations having gas.  The gas hit the local tank farm about 3:00 pm on last friday. The local broadcast said it would be well into middle to late this week before gas supplys in all the area gas stations would be normalized.

The problem is some people are "panic buying" and topping off frequently which empties a station far beyond  a normal rate of consumption which in turn creates a temporary artifical shortage at individual stations. Panic buyers just see the bags over pumps which drives them to do more panic buying. At a station I frequent the lady said she got a full allocation about 9:00 am and it was all gone by 1:00 pm on that day. This station does not ration fuel so they ran out quickly. Hopefully, as gas is more widely available these "Nervous Ninnys" will go back to a more normal
consumption pattern so the rest of us will have gas when we need it. Our club has moved our meeting to next weekend so hopefully the gas situation will be much improved by then.

                                                                                                        Pat Robinson

[john e. holliday]

Foiund gas in Tulsa area at 3.21 a gallon.  Of course it is nice to have a vehicle that will get over 350 miles per tank.  Of course I don't push the speed limit.  DOC Holliday

[Greg McCoy]

Foiund gas in Tulsa area at 3.21 a gallon.  Of course it is nice to have a vehicle that will get over 350 miles per tank.  Of course I don't push the speed limit.  DOC Holliday

Today Tulsa radio is reporting gas below $3.00 in Oklahoma City. $3.15 in Tulsa