As we all know, gas supplies are low right now due to Katrina, add in a couple more hurricanes and we will have to burn “booze”. Current mid-west price is $2.60/gallon and I anticipate it will be above $3.00 before long.
Using R. Emanuels concept (”Never let a crisis go to waste”) , the “scalpers” will artificially inflate the price of gas even if they had an abundant supply. Perhaps there needs to be a limit on the amount one can purchase during such catastrophes.
Not in this case. As a nation, we don’t have enough refinery capacity and certainly not enough storage.
Significant refinery capacity was disrupted during Harvey. I understand minor price increases nationwide for that. $.30 a gallon is minor and temporary.
Gas stations typically refill their underground storage tanks daily even multiple times a day. When cars don’t move, neither do tanker trucks. There is an abundant supply of crude oil, but no abundance of refined gasoline. Not a crisis going to waste, simply good and basic economics.
The price you are paying is the cost of the next tanker load, not the one you’re using.
Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and John Stossel all have excellent articles online about just this situation.
What really gets me; After Katrina, gas went to $4+ per gallon, motor oil and other petroleum products doubled and tripled as well. However, gas came back down but oils didn’t. A quart of decent oil is $5.00 and it takes less refining to make oil than gas. Will Harvey make oils go to $8/qt and never come back down?
I’ve got a truck sitting here that needs a total transmission flush. 16 quarts it will take. Better go buy the fluid before it goes up and never comes back down eh.