Posted on 09/12/2008 3:15:20 AM PDT by don-o
Knoxville-area drivers are seeing more bags on gasoline pumps today as a petroleum shortage spreading throughout the Southeast hits local gas stations, groceries and convenience stores.
Refinery outages along the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Gustav have created severe shortages, causing retailers like Weigel's to scramble to keep their pumps flowing. And Hurricane Ike is bearing down on Texas, drawing a bead on North America's petroleum manufacturing capital of Houston and portending a worst-case scenario for dealers and consumers.
(Excerpt) Read more at knoxnews.com ...
Just heard news that gas will be limited to $10 or 10 gallons (can’t remember) and prices will go up today.
Which will produce panic buying. Where are you?
One north Knox County station owner told me yesterday evening that it was going up $1 over night. He’s a BP station owner and said he was changing the price after he closed up last night. Gas was 1.59 a gallon then. I haven’t been out this morning to see but I know he’s right. BTW no surprise Weigles {in the picture} sold out. They have the best gas in the county and usually about the cheapest except for Racetrack or Raceway.
All the more reason why we should be drilling off shore in places other than the Gulf of Mexico, and we should be building refineries somewhere other than in the Gulf states.
1.59? What year?
Our local radio (Johnson City) reported about a 20 cent rise to $3.80 overnight locally. That’s why I looked for the article
Someone posted the same info regarding FL yesterday....http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2080238/posts
I have to get gas this morning, we’ll see what happens (I’m on LI).
Man I’m not awake yet 3.59 LOL sorry about that. Some places around here were 3.69 yesterday too.
The short of this: BLAME THE ENVIROMENTAL WACKOS. They are pleased that drilling on ANWR and other places has not been opened up, and they would oppose the building of new refineries.
Please tell your liberal friends how the ENVIRONMENTALISTS play a role in this...
The sad news is that, until recently, there were no new refineries built in the United States in over 50 years.
I think the new one was built in South Dakota or Minnesota or somewhere.
The United States runs almost at 90% to 95% of the US Refinery Capacity.
More than likely, the combination of both Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike are to blame. Gustav also caused refineries to shut down, but there was probably enough supply in the pipelines/storage to not cause problems.
Now, another Hurricane, so close after Gustav, is making this worse.
The US can import gasoline, but there has to be foresite of at least a week or two on that, and that is normally imported into New York City or Philadelphia on the East Coast.
The Midwest is pretty much dependent on the Gulf Coast oil refineries...
Knoxville is where the tank farm is. It does seem strange. I won't be going out till this afternoon to check. But my source has been highly reliable in the past though.
The bad news is that the storm is so big there are tropical storm watches up for places as far East as Baton Rouge/New Orleans.
They extend Southward beyond Corpus Christi. That leaves very few refineries open -- as I believe they must be shut in for even a Tropical Storm (a pipe breaking or other problem in strong winds can cause a catastrophic explosion.
The Good News is that it appears Hurricane IKE will not be much more than a Category 2 storm, and thus damage to a significant number of refineries around Houston, Texas City, Beaumont, Port Arthur, and also Lake Charles [Louisiana] should be minimal [I hope].
This is a good reason to PRAY for our friends in Texas (and Louisiana) to be spared this storm.
Of course, the Louisiana Superport has probably been shut down this week. That offloads crude oil, but I imagine it can also offload gasoline.
So once the storm passes, that should be back online.
Finally, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve can be used to get the WORKING REFINERIES back in business as soon as possible even if there is a shortage of crude oil (from both imports cut off and shutting in Gulf Coast oil production).
I think the numbers for oil production lost is about 1 million barrels a day -- give or take two to three hundred thousand barrels...
It is where the gasoline comes from for the Tank farm that matters... I believe you would be dependent on Gulf Coast Gasoline that is refined.
Need to start drilling for oil on the East Coast (Carolinas, Georgia, Florida Gulf Coast) as well as the West Coast (California offshore moratorium needs to be overridden).
The city of Long Beach, California recently enacted legislation (that Gov. Arnold Terminator had to sign) to start drilling in Long Beach harbor. This means big bucks to the City of Long Beach.
Comments???
3.59 is about the average price/gal here in central Misssissippi also.
Yep that's what started the problem. Ours comes from the Gulf. Colonial Pipe line IIRC.
... but there has to be foresite foresight of at least a week or two on that, ....
Many stations around us here in Houston are running out of gasoline as people prepare for the storm.
Some refineries were still down or on reduced runs from the previous storm. Many were backing down and lowering production rates in anticpation of Ike.
Direct Hit: Hurricane Ike Zeros in on Facilities and Rigs
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2080064/posts
Energy industry reprises actions taken for Gustav
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079868/posts
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.