Posted on 04/21/2006 5:13:16 AM PDT by Bloodclot
Gas stations in three East Coast states ran out of fuel on Thursday as gas prices soared. Shortages were reported in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania starting on Thursday afternoon. They could last as long as 30 days.
NBC 10 was live at one gas station when the pumps went dry at rush hour.
Catherine Rossi, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, says she knows of eight stations in the Philadelphia region that were out of fuel yesterday.
Wayne Hummel of Liberty Petroleum says there's a derth of fuel in the New York and Philadelphia areas. He says four of the 40 stations Liberty supplies in the Philadelphia region ran out of fuel in the last two days.
Refiners are switching to fuel formulations containing corn-based ethanol, prompted by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005. To do that, retailers must clean their tanks, remove all water and install extremely fine filters on their pumps. Terminals have to clean storage tanks, too.
An NBC 10 news team was at a Wilmington, Del., gas station on Thursday afternoon, where reporter Bill Baldini informed drivers pulling up to the pumps that the station was on empty.
On Thursday night, reporter Kristen Welker had the same experience at a Northern Liberties gas station. Closer to home for NBC10.com, a Luk Oil station just blocks from our station was out of gas as news trucks hit the street to report the Thursday afternoon news.
Stations in New Jersey and in several other Pennsylvania areas are also out of fuel, or only selling premium fuel, AAA told NBC 10.
Rossi said the shortages were expected to be temporary.
By temporary, AAA and other experts said the shortage situation could last for as long as 30 days.
The news was unwelcome to drivers who saw a big jump at the gas pumps recently.
On Thursday morning, NBC 10 reported that prices at some local gas stations had hit $3 per gallon.
An NBC 10 news van stopping in Conshohocken, Pa., saw gas selling for $3.09 for a gallon of regular unleaded at a local station.
Don't expect those prices to go down in the near future.
Overseas on Thursday, crude oil prices hit a new record intraday high of $72.49 after weekly data showed a drop in U.S. gasoline stocks.
This is raising worries that refiners don't have an adequate inventory cushion ahead of the peak summer driving season.
The previous record intraday price, set Wednesday, was $72.40 a barrel.
How has this blinding glimpse of the obvious escaped GW, an oil man?
At what point do I need to call Ford to verify that my Escape will burn gasoline with a 10% additive of Ethanol?
You might not want to wait until it's completely empty. I promised myself I was going to fill up at the halfway point after Rita, but I've slacked off. The good thing is the fact that my tank wasn't all the way full saved me from getting into the stream of refugees trying to leave Houston. I had filled up the weekend before in anticipation of having to make a move, but was off the full mark by evac time and decided to save the gas in case I couldn't get any later, which was the case.
Darned Democrat environmentalist wackos won't permit us producing our own oil. They want shortages. They think they can blame Republicans for it. They may be right.
Or regular sold as premium.
Yeah, for all the bitching about people driving etc., I think to a large degree cheap, plentiful energy is what separates us from the rest of the world.
Part of the problem is that if we seriously look like we're going to kick the habit, the Sauds and the Iranians will glut the market. The Saudis are already trying to make the switch so they can export gasoline directly. If Iran wasn't being run by a bunch of inbred idiots they would be doing the same instead of chasing the atom and rattling their 7th century scimitar.
That's not true... oil had been being harvested from the ME long before the 50s. That's what the war in North Africa in WWII was about. What happened in the 50s was that was when all the kingdoms and sheikdoms nationalized the oil industries and started taking most all of the profit instead of just a percentage. That's when the mystique of the unimaginably wealthy ME sheik came about.
Since 9-11, I haven't let my gasoline tank fall below 1/2 full.
Yeah, the gas I've been buying is crap lately. I don't believe the octane analyses anymore. My car knocks like a... uh... it knocks a TON on reg, only moderately less on Premium.
We are and always will be a crisis driven society. When it gets EXTREMELY bad, then we'll start doing something about the situation. Not one minute before.
$4.00 per gallon gas (it's already $3.35 and climbing at some places around here) and shortages to boot, are going to lead to a Democratic takeover of Congress this November.
It DOESN'T MATTER how many lessons some Freepers are willing to give us about "free markets". It doesn't matter one whit...
Frankly, with ever-increasing gas prices that literally zoom up overnight, the "truth" becomes useless. What matters more is "public perception".
And right now the perception is that the prices and shortages are due - at least in part - to the greed of the energy producers (look that that Exxon retirement package!), speculators who run rampant and unregulated, and the inability (or unwillingness) of the President and his part to do anything about it.
For example, the current "ethanol imbroglio" could be ended immediately - by an executive order suspending the EPA-mandated ethanol switchover requirements. After the executive order was in place, the Republican-controlled Congress (our side still "controls" Congress, right?) could expedite legislation to restrict or perhaps end outright "botique blends" of gasoline in favor of a few "regional" blends that can be produced more efficiently and cheaply, reducing price-pressure on refinery products and maximizing production "throughput" at our refineries.
My bet is the Congress and President will do nothing as prices zoom up and actual shortages ensue (as they are happening NOW). Of course, President Bush will take a moment to express his "concern" about high gas prices, and then go on to other business (derisive snort).
We'll have $4 a gallon by fall, perhaps higher.
And a Democratic Congress, to boot!
- John
This is the petroleum/refiners/big oil's method of churning up opposition to ethanol.
When Exxon can retire their president with a $600,000,000 kiss off, you know where these guys are coming from. They will fight competition tooth and nail.
Big oil is a BIG reason we are in the fix we are in and up to this point have had almost no blame directed toward them.
They suck up to radical Islam and reap fortunes to the detriment of our citizens.
This damage fantasy is pure unadulterated B.S. My two cars and the previous two all ran on gas with 10% alcohol with zero problems.
In addition, in Brazil where 20% alcohol is added to gasolene there was zero problems with my vehicles during the three years of driving there.
No argument about North Africa and its oil reserves. What I was trying to point out was the result of Ike's listening to the oil lobby and the institution of import quotas and taxes. Why not remove all the import taxes for the moment? After all, what's the gov't done to earn it, and why do we have to pay it?
LOL. We had a retailer here get caught filling his "Premium" tank with the "Regular" gas pump a few years back. Just sitting there with the nozzle in the tank fill in the middle of the night. Someone passing by called it in as a possible gas theft and the rest is history.
You are slow today...Drudge has a picture of a station in Cali charging $4.04 for premium.
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