Posted on 09/03/2005 9:52:03 PM PDT by snowsislander
A rest stop along the New York State Thruway and other stations in the Buffalo area ran out of gas Friday - and more shortages could occur over the holiday weekend - as the devastation from Hurricane Katrina roiled gasoline supplies in ways that Americans haven't seen for decades.
Gas prices in the Buffalo area shot up by as much as 90 cents in a day as prices hit nearly $4 a gallon. Stations around the country ran out of fuel, too. And politicians in Washington and Albany rolled out quick-fix responses to a problem that might or might not be long-lasting.
For drivers like Donald Reilly of Akron, it all added up to frustration.
"Everything is in such an upheaval right now," said Reilly after pulling into a Delta Sonic in Williamsville after it ran out of gas. "No one seems to know what's going to happen," he said. "If things keep going the way they are, it could be devastating."
Many consumers complained of possible price-gouging. And while experts said that might be happening in some places, they attributed most of the sharp price spikes and spot shortages to a supply chain wrecked by the hurricane that wrecked the Gulf Coast.
Evidence of the damage could be seen at the Thruway's westbound Seneca travel plaza between the Canandaigua and Victor exits, which ran out of fuel Friday afternoon. Gas supplies were also running low at the westbound Junius Ponds plaza near Geneva, said Thruway spokeswoman Betsy Graham.
Fuel deliveries were expected late Friday at both stations, but Graham warned that other spot shortages could occur along the state's central artery.
"It is a possibility," she said. "During occasions when fuel is unavailable at plazas, we plan to activate variable message signs so motorists have the opportunity to make appropriate decisions in advance."
Visiting the ravaged Gulf Coast for the first time since the hurricane struck on Monday, President Bush warned that gasoline supplies are tight around the nation.
"We're going to have a problem this weekend when it comes to gasoline," Bush said.
The problems already forced shutdowns at Delta Sonic pumps on Delaware Avenue in North Buffalo, on McKinley Avenue in South Buffalo, and on Niagara Falls Boulevard near Maple Road, Amherst, and a Mobil station on Route 5 in Woodlawn.
"There's definitely a possibility that we'll continue to see sporadic shutdowns," said Robert J. Klein, senior executive vice president of Delta Sonic.
The head of a statewide association that represents 3,500 gas stations said entities that buy gasoline on the open market - such as Delta Sonic face the biggest challenges.
Ralph Bonbardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops, said retailers who buy supplies through contracts with major distributors will probably encounter fewer snags.
Still, he said a small number of Mobil stations and other outlets in the Western New York area and across the state have experienced short-term supply troubles.
Bonbardiere said there's some concern that motorists, fearing a wider gasoline shortage, might compound the problem.
"If the public doesn't panic and start filling their tanks up because they're afraid, we should be OK," he said.
But customers, fearing higher prices, couldn't seem to lay off the bargain gas being sold at Horvath's Woodlawn Mobil through rush hour Friday.
The station, at the time, attracted a crowd for selling gas for about 30 or 40 cents cheaper - $3.079 for a gallon of regular - than competitors. Assistant manager Phil McMullen said the Mobil station sold its gas on hand at the old price as it awaited a tanker to replenish its supplies at the new price level.
At 6:20 p.m., McMullen was forced to turn away a line at least four cars deep at every pump after the station's supply dried up.
"It's amazing . . . I've been here 14 years and I've never seen anything like this," McMullen said.
Dwindling supplies prompted other retailers to dramatically increase prices.
Leann Vantghoff of Grand Island pulled up to a Noco pump on Grand Island Boulevard and Whitehaven Road to find regular unleaded gas selling for nearly $3.90 per gallon - up 90 cents from just a few hours before.
Vantghoff called the increase "shocking," but she doesn't expect to change her driving habits much.
"I'm not going to put my life on hold because of it. I'm not going to sit home and do nothing," she said.
Prices skyrocketed at other pumps throughout the area and the nation. In response, federal officials took unprecedented steps to boost the oil supply.
The Bush administration said it will release 30 million barrels of crude oil from U.S. emergency reserves. Federal officials also arranged a major release of gasoline and crude oil from a consortium of 26 nations.
At a news conference in Washington, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the additional supply should help relieve high gas prices - but he didn't say when.
Those shortfalls - and the resulting price spikes - stem from the devastation that Katrina wreaked on the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Gulf Coast is responsible for around 30 percent of U.S. crude oil production. A large portion of U.S. oil imports also arrive at ports in the region.
Pipelines from the area to other parts of the country have been repaired, but oil industry analysts said the storm idled 90 percent of the Gulf's oil production capacity.
That led to immediate - and shocking - increases in pump prices. Most retailers keep no more than a three-day supply of fuel on hand, so they jacked up prices to make sure they could afford their next delivery from suppliers who, in a tight market, are charging more and more.
It's not price-gouging, said oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg, of the oft-quoted Lundberg Letter on energy prices.
"Any retailer suddenly hiking street prices should be first presumed part of the solution, not a crook," Lundberg said on the company Web site. "Sudden price hike is the right mechanism to allocate product, avoid shortage, and prevent dangerous garage hoarding of a combustible especially at a time of national emergency."
Others aren't so sure.
"You know there's price gouging when you see one station at $3.25 a gallon and another nearby at $3.75," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. Schumer and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., have both asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether price gouging is responsible for any of the recent gas price increases.
Meanwhile in Albany, the State Senate announced plans to return for a special session this month to try to roll back gasoline taxes by about 10 cents a gallon.
"We need to act fast to address this emergency and help ease this burden on our hardworking citizens," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.
The Democrat-led Assembly, however, has no plans to return. Instead, it will continue with its scheduled hearings aimed at developing a state energy policy.
"We will return when we can act on a truly effective solution," said a joint statement by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the chamber's Energy Committee chairman, Paul Tonko of Montgomery County.
Adding it all up, oil industry analysts were unclear about when gasoline would be plentiful again and when prices would stabilize.
The 26-nation consortium's oil release "has definitely relieved some of the pressure," said oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Futures. "But the problem is, it's going to take time to get here."
News Staff Reporter T.J. Pignataro and wire services contributed to this report.
There is no gas shortage.
get locking gas caps if you dont have them
theives with rubber hoses on the prowl
Gas dropped .07-.10 cents today where I live.
I literally saw this gas sign on a Shell gas station along Government Way in Hayden, Idaho this past week.
Except that the $1.72 in this photo, was a $2.72 in the one I saw.
So much for the 'Just in Time' supply methodology.
I like to call it 'Just Too Much Exposure' or 'Just Too Risky'.
First posted by Conspiracy Guy
One of the pipelines that feeds Phoenix comes from Texas.
At any rate, I'll be getting a locking gas cap to be on the safe side.
How many refineries are there in upstate NY? Any where in the Northeast? Do they allow tankers into any port up there? Are the Canadians sharing any of their vast supplies of oil?
(at least, I hope I get away that cheap this weekend when I go to fill up!)
I sat in line for 45 minutes today in Madison, MS. Welcome to the gas crunch!
TAW
Colonial Pipeline continues to add capacity to both its gasoline and distillate Main Lines. Lines 1 and 2, which run from Houston, TX, to Greensboro, NC, are now operating at approximately 70% of normal capacity.
Distributed generating equipment is now being brought on line, and additional power generation will continue to be brought on line over the next 24 hours. This additional electrical power will allow Colonial to add more capacity to its system. Colonial expects to achieve 77% of normal capacity by midnight Saturday (9/3/05), and 86% of normal capacity by midnight Sunday (9/4/05.)
Colonial Pipeline, headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., delivers a daily average of 100 million gallons of gasoline, home heating oil, aviation fuel and other refined petroleum products to communities and businesses throughout South and the Eastern United States. Colonial consists of more than 5,500 miles of pipeline, originating at Houston, Texas, and terminating at the New York harbor.
I don't know how many other pipelines there are, or if this is the main one or the only one (though I doubt that), but they expect to be back to almost 100 percent a week after the hurricane.
Well, as far as I can tell from looking at this directory from the Department of Energy, there are no refineries at all in the state of New York.
There do appear to be six operable facilities in New Jersey, and five in Pennsylvania.
As to Canada, we do buy a lot of oil from them, but I don't know without doing more research how much of what refined products we buy from them. But for some gross numbers for non-crude petroleum products, I see from looking at the import numbers from our Census Bureau for Canada, they have us purchasing something over $2.5 billion of fuel oil from Canada (10010), and almost $5 billion of "Other Petroleum Products" (10020) in 2004. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that at least some of 10020 was gasoline or diesel.
Are supplies falling or is it that everyone seems to be filling up every 10 minutes or so?
There's no gas crunch; there's a gas PANIC fueled by rumors.
It's a BIG one.......and that is excellent news.
Situation appears to have gotten much better here in Orlando. The lines of the past few days are gone and very few stations don't have gasoline.
Odd and even days. Gosh I remember that. Even though, I wasn't yet driving at the time.
Yep, the siphoning, gas cap locks...dang, and we can't even blame Carter for it now can we?
Oh wait, the NYSlimes, and the rest of the left are blaming Bush. ;)
You're right. You stick around long enough, if you missed it the first time, you'll see it again.
"It's amazing . . . I've been here 14 years and I've never seen anything like this," McMullen said. "
No???
I remember something like this back in the early 1970's - right before one of the worst recessions in recent history.
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