Posted on 03/30/2022 5:09:18 AM PDT by blam
We recently warned that Europe is about to be hit with an unprecedented shortage of diesel, as gas stations run dry of the vital liquid (according to the CEOs of the world’s largest independent energy merchants), but little did we know that the first actual crisis would hit in America’s own back yard and not just anywhere but the state synonymous with commodity extraction: on Monday, airport officials in Austin, Texas warned of an impending jet-fuel shortage amid a surge in travel to and from the state’s capital city.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which is ranked No. 29 in the U.S. based on 2021 passenger traffic, issued a fuel-shortage alert on Monday and urged airlines to carry extra fuel or send in more supplies via tankers, said Sam Haynes, a spokesperson.
With 282 flights scheduled for today & 1,600 + more passengers flying out before 8 a.m. than we typically see, it’s a busy day at AUS.
While operations have returned to normal, we continue to ask passengers to arrive a minimum of 2 hours in advance now through early April. pic.twitter.com/5olg6JTaR0
— Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) (@AUStinAirport) March 28, 2022
“The on-hand supply just isn’t enough to keep up with demand,” she said. “This is all a result of the tremendous growth we’ve seen” in the Austin area.
Haynes also said that the airport’s two fuel-storage tanks haven’t been expanded or augmented since it opened in 1999, and as a result, the Austin facility typically holds just one to two days of supply, less than half the five-to-seven days of fuel stockpiled by most airports of similar size, she said.
“We’re aware of fuel quantity issues at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and we are working to mitigate potential operational issues by tankering fuel on some inbound flights,” said Dan Landson, a spokesman for Southwest Airlines Inc., the airport’s largest carrier by passenger load.
The silver lining is that so far, no flights have been canceled or diverted as a result of the fuel situation. Meanwhile, the demand for jet fuel is soaring with the airport seeing more than 8,000 passengers before 8 a.m. on both Sunday and Monday, which is about 25% above normal, as citizens of bicoastal liberal utopias just can’t wait to get the hell out.
The crush of passengers was so dramatic that security lines stretched outside and onto sidewalks, and long waits meant many missed their flights, the Austin American-Statesman newspaper reported.
For now, the imminent fuel shortage hasn’t translated into actual groundings: according to Bloonberg, American Airlines’ flight schedule has not been affected by the shortage, a spokesperson said. The supply squeeze wasn’t expected to impact Air France-KLM’s inaugural non-stop flight to Amsterdam scheduled for Monday afternoon, Haynes said.
We expect that to change; we also expect that very soon many other airports around the country will suffer similar shortages as the US is hit with the worst supply chain crisis in modern history
Go Vegan
Large airports and military air fields have their fuel directly pipelined from refineries.
The refineries of Big Spring (Texas y’all) and those of the Texas coast are direct sources of jet fuel to Texas airfields.
Top 10 U.S. refineries operable capacity*
As of January 1, 2021
Rank Corporation Company State Site Barrels per calendar day
1 Saudi Aramco Motiva Enterprises LLC Texas Port Arthur 607,000
2 Marathon Petroleum Corp Marathon Petroleum Co LP Texas Galveston Bay 593,000
3 Marathon Petroleum Corp Marathon Petroleum Co LP Louisiana Garyville 578,000
4 ExxonMobil Corp ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Co Texas Baytown 560,500
5 ExxonMobil Corp ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Co Louisiana Baton Rouge 520,000
6 BP PLC BP Products North America Inc Indiana Whiting 435,000
7 PDV America Inc Citgo Petroleum Corp Louisiana Lake Charles 418,000
8 ExxonMobil Corp ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Co Texas Beaumont 369,024
9 Marathon Petroleum Corp Tesoro Refining and Marketing Co California Carson 363,000
10 Chevron Corp Chevron USA Inc Mississippi Pascagoula 356,440
*Includes only refineries with atmospheric crude oil distillation capacity
4 in Texas, 3 in Louisiana and Austin can’t get Av.gas?!
Meaning the airport board did not budget or procure monies to increase fuel storage capacity as air traffic grew over the years.
I hope the military has some fuel set aside for WW3.
When I lived in Houston 1975-1995, we would go to Austin just to party for the weekend.
It was a beautiful city in the early 80’s push the liberals out and save the city.
It's obvious you didn't read the article. It's a storage volume problem at the airport not availability of refined product in the area. Traffic at the airport has greatly increase since it opened in 1999, but the volume of storage at the airport has not increased.
Last fall there were reports that China had started hoarding food. Many of us laughed at that concept as conspiracy stuff.
But here we are now in spring with a 25% estimated drop in grains for this year due to Ukraine/Russia war.
One doesn’t normally hoard food in a crisis, one does so before the “crisis.” The argument could be made that China knew months ago that Russia had plans regarding Ukraine and it would trigger food shortages globally. We Americans we quite ignorant in that regard.
Biden is making severe errors regarding oil. The normal channels are not even taking our phone calls! Seriously, that’s not hyperbole. China is an energy hungry nation and they will do whatever it takes to get the oil, gas, coal they need. In the meantime, leftists in America are telling the poor to buy tesla’s, eat lentil porridge, and stop buying in bulk.
The United States is going to find itself in more than a world of hurt 4 months from now. Sanctions did nothing to stop Putin, do you really think they will stop China from going into Taiwan? Sure let’s sanction China, the rest of the world is staged to trade in other currencies.
Reality check that many even here on FR will call BS:
Gas will be unaffordable for most people.
Americans will not just be malnourished, they will be waking up to the fact they will starve or freeze this winter.
November elections are too late to repair the damage. In fact, clear, cold hard fact, it is too late already. November Republicans must be on a war footing both existentially and internally. The ‘swamp’ must be drained. Every rotten log, stone, must be overturned and removed. (I don’t see that happening, do you?)
Millions will be drafted into service either for war or to feed fellow citizens with what little they can ration.
Biden doesn’t have what it takes to rally the people. When President Trump was faced with the Sars-Cov-2 crisis and no masks, no ventilators, etc. he was able to rally companies to step up. Biden doesn’t have that in him, nor does his regime.
And when enough citizens realize what has happened...well SHTF time unlike we have ever witnessed before. America is just about ripe for the piking.
Austin should be encircled in a high fence and turned into a zoo.
On Tuesday, BlackRock Inc. President Rob Kapito told an audience in Austin, Texas, hosted by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, that an entire younger generation is quickly finding out what it means to suffer from shortages, according to Bloomberg.
“For the first time, this generation is going to go into a store and not be able to get what they want,” Kapito said. “And we have a very entitled generation that has never had to sacrifice.”
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