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.
They can always go to odd and even the way they did in the late 70s. Easy to understand and implement - self-policing - just try to buy gas on the wrong day.
Stopped the shortages overnight.
It's dropped about 30 cents/gallon here in KS.
How long did you have to wait for gas today?
When was the last time you were on empty but didn't know where you were going to buy gas in your own hometown?
I agree that everyone is panicky but it's because everyone is on empty or close to it and no one knows if every single station in a 10 mile radius is going to have a NO GAS sign attached to each pump tomorrow or not.
TAW
I expect them to be at 150% of capacity by Monday.
When was the last time you were on empty but didn't know where you were going to buy gas in your own hometown?
Never.
Repeat, there is NO gas crunch.
Panic buying. Just wait it out for a week if possible.Plan trips so as to do more things at a time. Take the keys away from the kids.
Same for Alaska. We can supply our own needs via our oil fields and refineries. Now if only the loony left would stop obstructing ANWR so we could bring it on line and alleviate the situation down there.
We already import more from Canada than anywhere else.
One of Communism's heavy hitters ( Stalin or Lenin, can't recall which one ) once quipped:
"History repeats itself-- the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."
Howlin is absolutely right- it's not so much a shortage as it is a self-fulfilling panic. It will settle down.
Here on the coast, we watched prices drop about 30 cents a gallon yesterday afternoon- that pipeline getting back on line, and Governor Purdue's moratorium on state taxes eased the situation up enough to help.
Thanks for the info!
We are at $3.09 here.
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