That is not the situation in NJ. The shortage is electrical power not gasoline and fuel in the ground may as well be on the moon.
What is needed is either more electricity to the stations or gas from some other outlet or preferably both.
Right now the stations with power are unwilling cartel among stations without power. What sort of market is that?
Right now the market, such as it is, is just about non-functioning. First because of state controls and then because competition is nearly impossible. It's like that thermometer but one with no markings.
If a station raised its prices and I didn't want to pay it, where would I go? No station needs to lower prices to attract customers and no station would lose customers by charging a few cents more per gallon.
It appears to me that no one really knows exactly what their goal is and so it's marathon or not, NG a little bit maybe, union control of work for certain..unless, deliver the goods quickly or let out bids to vendors....on and on...no one seems to know why they're doing what they're doing. They know how but not the why.
And if you had to pay what others were willing to pay for gas then it would be profitable for other closed stations to buy gas powered electric generators to get their stations pumping gas. Then you would have some gas rather than none.
You (NJ voters) are just causing them to do nothing and sit home and watch you all on TV in 3 mile lines wondering why life is so unfair when you support such fairness laws that NJ passed.