Gas Pipeline To Atlanta Running At 100 Percent Capacity [Colonial; 1-2 wks till supplies normal]

WSB-TV ^ | September 30, 2008 | unknown

[Mike Fieschko]

ATLANTA -- The pipeline that brings gas to Atlanta from the Gulf Coast is back to 100 percent capacity, Energy Department officials said Tuesday.

In addition, 13 of the 15 refineries knocked off line by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav are up and running again.

The bad news for metro Atlanta drivers is that even with the Colonial Pipeline running at full steam it will be one to two weeks before supplies across metro Atlanta return to normal.

Motorists are rising before dawn so they can be at filling stations when the delivery truck arrives. Some are skipping work or telecommuting. Others are taking the extreme step -- for Atlanta -- of switching to public transportation.

VIDEO: Main Gas Pipeline Operating At Pre-Hurricane Levels

Shorter lines are being reported at gas stations in the metro Atlanta area Tuesday morning, but deliveries are being consumed by motorists anxious to find gas.

• MAP: Metro Atlanta Stations With Gas

AAA says the supply may not return to normal for another two weeks.

The QuikTrip chain expects all its stations to have gas by Wednesday.

Across a section of the South, a hurricane-induced gasoline shortage that was expected to last only a few days is dragging into its third week, and experts say it could persist into mid-October. The Atlanta area has been hit particularly hard, along with Nashville and western North Carolina.

Those lucky enough to find gas are paying more than drivers elsewhere around the country.

"I've used up gas just looking for gas," said Larry Jenkins, a construction worker who pulled his red pickup truck into a Citgo station, on Monday. The sign said $3.99 a gallon, but the pumps were closed. Many filling stations in the area have not had gas for days.

"Right now, I'll pay anything for gas," Jenkins said. "I don't care if it's $5 or $6 a gallon. I need it."

The shortage started with the one-two punch of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which shut down refineries along the Gulf Coast. Now, more than two weeks after Ike, many refineries are still making fuel at reduced levels.

While other parts of the country get gasoline from a variety of domestic and overseas sources, the Southeast relies heavily on two pipelines that carry fuel from the Gulf of Mexico. Because the gasoline moves at just 3 to 5 mph, it can take up to 10 days to reach Atlanta.

A tendency among panicky drivers in the hardest-hit areas to top off their tanks every time they pass an open station has only made matters worse.

"Fuel is coming back into the system, but as soon as it comes in, it's being sucked back out by consumers who are afraid the shortage is going to continue," said Ben Brockwell of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J.

In the meantime, government agencies have postponed public hearings, community colleges have canceled classes, and some companies have provided vans for carpooling or encouraged employees to work from home.

Hours-long lines, "No gas" signs and plastic bags covering fuel-pump nozzles are familiar sights around Atlanta, where drivers have become intimately familiar with fuel delivery schedules, rising before daybreak when they know gas is coming to a certain station.

"I was just in Atlanta yesterday. There is no gasoline in Atlanta, in Charlotte, in Chattanooga. It's like a Third World country," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday on ABC.

Police officers and a security guard were on hand to manage the flow of cars at a downtown Atlanta gas station around midday Monday.

Kathy Burdett, 49, of Forest Park, said the shortage ruined her weekend plans to visit Stone Mountain with out-of-town guests.

"I didn't go anywhere all weekend and we kept close to home," said Burdett, who had to hunt for the gasoline her friends needed to make it home to Tennessee.

The average price for regular gas Monday was $3.94 per gallon in Georgia, 30 cents higher than the national average, according to the AAA. Motorists were paying an average of $3.89 a gallon Monday in North Carolina and $3.80 in South Carolina.

Authorities in North Carolina and Tennessee said they were investigating reports of price-gouging, while Georgia's consumer affairs office has subpoenaed sales records from 130 gas stations because of similar complaints.

Even in Atlanta, a city notorious for long commutes and traffic, some drivers were turning to public transportation. Although the MARTA bus and subway system did not have ridership numbers for September, a spokeswoman said parking lots at stations were busier than usual.

As she waited in a gas line at an Atlanta station, 27-year-old Kasheeda Washington said she planned to start taking the bus because driving from her home in suburban Marietta to two jobs in Atlanta and to classes at the downtown campus of Georgia State University had become too expensive.

"I would have never thought this day would come when I would have to wait for gas," she said.

Limits In Place At Some Gas Stations

Whether it's cash or credit, drivers are paying first inside before they can pump outside at one Shell station along Indian Trail Road. The owner said he placed a $30 limit on gas so everyone gets something. Drivers had mixed opinions.

"I think it's a great idea because that way there is enough gas to go around. Otherwise, there would be people who wouldn't even be able to leave their house the next day if they couldn't get gas," said Kennesaw resident Paula Vermilya.

"I think it's a bad thing because I have to keep going back and forth to get gas. With me working, it's just inconvenient for me. So I just think it's a bad thing. I think I should be able to fill up," said Dunwoody resident Felitha Grissette.

The owner of the gas station said normally he would have received 8,000 gallons a day but because of the shortage, he's only getting 4,000 gallons every other day. So as long as the shortage lasts, the $30 limit will too.

"To me, it's better than nothing," said Alpharetta resident Paul Leconte. "I drive a big vehicle and to fill it up, it's about $100 right now. But I'm on "E" now and if you give me $30, I figure that's fair. It's better than nothing."

[GOPJ]

...drivers are paying first inside before they can pump outside at one Shell station along Indian Trail Road. The owner said he placed a $30 limit on gas so everyone gets something...

That's what we did in the 70's. You'd get enough gas to get to work, get back, and get in line again.

[MediaMole]

This has to be fixed. No one part of the country should be so dependent on one or two pipelines. The supply issues were apparent in 2005, but no one took action to prevent a repeat.

On top of that, the EPA should get rid of the patchwork of reformulated fuels that impede transfer of gas from areas where there are normal supplies to areas with supply problems.

At the same time gas supplies are limited in the Southeast, gas prices in the Midwest are substantially lower than they were before Ike.

[AZLiberty]

Right now, I'll pay anything for gas," Jenkins said. "I don't care if it's $5 or $6 a gallon. I need it."

Did "anti-gouging" laws cause this debilitating shortage?

[Secret Agent Man]

Wow it’s great you can get gas again, but man, filling up while the delivery truck is there is brutal on your car. All the crap and residue that builds up at the bottom of the holding tanks under the station gets churned up and pumped into your car.

Of course you gotta have gas, but it’ll clog up your fuel filter.

[AnAmericanMother]

"I was just in Atlanta yesterday. There is no gasoline in Atlanta, in Charlotte, in Chattanooga. It's like a Third World country," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday on ABC.

Newt is talking through his hat.

The obvious stations have been out of gas -- brand name stations near interstates, and so forth.

But our Pilot truck stop has only been out of gas ONCE - two nights ago they ran out about 9 p.m. They had gas again a few hours later, though. Line got out on the street but was moving.

Also, our Costco has not been out of gas the entire time. Of course, unlike the Pilot, they close at night.

Another alternative is to go a little off the beaten path, to chain stations like QuikTrip that aren't on a main drag. I filled up at one in Sandy Springs (north side) and also at another Pilot in Newnan.

It's been an inconvenience and I've had to plan ahead, and we've tried to minimize unnecessary trips, but "there is no gasoline in Atlanta" is just B.S.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Try to find gas in North Forsyth....there is none, not even off the beaten path. I am going to leave my house at 11:00 pm to find some. Newt is speaking the truth.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

I’ll believe it when I see it. There was a poll that says Chambliss in only up by 2 points. This is probably one reason way.

[SAJ]

No. The laws of physics did.

Folks who aren't in the energy business simply don't understand that, no matter how you try, once a pipe goes dry, it takes a while to get it started again, and, even restarted, product moves through it at 3-6 mph. You do the math on, say, Houston-to-Atlanta at that speed.

With fuel prices high, no distributor in the world will keep more than the minimum amount in his tanks necessary to supply his retailers. Knock out his ability to resupply at will -- which Ike did to many distributors -- and you get the fuel shortages we see today in TN, GA, and the Carolinas.

Now, if the Regress and the enviroluddite Marxists would let us build refineries in any of those states, why, next time we had a hurricane hit the Gulf, these shortages wouldn't occur.

Pays your money, takes your choice. On this deal, think of the old Fram oil filter commercials: you pay me now, or you pay me later (bigtime). BTW, I am not a fuel jobber or distributor, just someone who understands and has understood how the ''awl bidness'' works and has worked for 30+ years...and how it MUST work, given the current goobermint policies.

Not unsympathetic AT ALL, but there ain't shjt the industry can do about these spot shortages when a big 'cane hits the Gulf coast. Period. Get the goobermint off their asses, and these spot shortages WILL vanish in about 5 years.

[2harddrive]

Righto! In Texas the satanic EPA requires “Diet Diesel” for the big trucks, and several types of “Gourmet Gas” for cars, depending on your North/South location! The blending changovers add TREMENDOUSLY to the costs at the refineries!

[AnAmericanMother]

He is NOT speaking the truth.

Shortages are local and spotty. Depends on your local supplier. Plenty of gas in Newnan, even the little mom 'n' pop stores had gas down there. Plenty of gas in Sandy Springs, plenty of gas in Vinings, West End, and Smyrna.

I'm sorry that North Forsyth is out, probably new development has outrun the local distributor, but that's not "Atlanta".

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

A little touchy about city limits?
Perhaps I should have said “metro” Atlanta. Better?
Either way, there is no gas at most of the stations. That’s a fact, jack.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

****...taking the extreme step — for Atlanta — of switching to public transportation.***

And the social(ist) engineer’s dream has finally come true!

Now, if they can just keep them using mass transit!

[Tymesup]

Two questions for you, if you would be so kind. If gas could be sold at 5 or 6 bucks a gallon, could someone make a profit driving a truck into Atlanta? If someone did this, would they be subject to anti-gouging laws?

My younger brother lives in Nashville and got zapped when they were short. He went to visit my older brother in Atlanta this past weekend. He’s lucky a friend of my brother’s passed a station that had gas and relayed it on. A mere hour wait at midnight.

[Mike Fieschko]

Wow it’s great you can get gas again, but man, filling up while the delivery truck is there is brutal on your car. All the crap and residue that builds up at the bottom of the holding tanks under the station gets churned up and pumped into your car.

The station ought to wait 30 minutes or so from when the load is dropped before allowing customers to pump fuel, just for this reason.

In addition ot the residue in the tank, there may be water, and the 30 minutes allows the fuel and water to separate.

[SAJ]

I have no idea of what Georgia's ''anti-gouging'' laws may be, so I can't answer your question.

Laws aside, whether anyone might be tempted to hire a tank truck to haul motor gasoline into Atlanta fr/some other place would be strongly dependent on A) whether they could even purchase motor gasoline fr/a distributor, B) how many hoops the Feds, state(s) and locals would make them jump through and how much it would cost the would-be trucker to jump through them, C) whether retail stations could even accept the gasoline (lots of them are under VERY unforgiving contracts), and of course D) whether the would-be trucker could turn a profit after all this, even with retail motor gasoline at $5 or $6.

Sorry, but you asked. The short answer is: not bloody likely. Be nice if someone could do so, certainly -- who the hell wants shortages, after all? -- but I rather imagine that the regs and laws set up by the Feds, the states, and no doubt the locals in many cases, wouldn't even permit a would-be trucker to attempt this, let alone make a profit doing so.

So much for classic ''American enterprise'', eh?

[Pining_4_TX]

“Did “anti-gouging” laws cause this debilitating shortage?”

Absolutely. Prices reflect a reality, and when you try to deny reality, it hurts. When you artificially hold prices lower than what they would be in a free market, then shortages occur. It happened under Jiminy Peanut, and it always happens when the morons in government prevent “price gouging”. People never seem to learn that the laws of economics are like the law of gravity - you can ignore them for a while, but then comes the hard landing.

[AnAmericanMother]

Unfortunately, public transit will never work in Atlanta, no matter how scarce or expensive gasoline gets.

Both the residents AND the jobs are too scattered. It's like LA.

[AnAmericanMother]

The only thing I care about wrt city limits of Atlanta is that I am OUTSIDE them.

If you say 'metro' you have to distinguish between 'five county metro' and what seems to be ALL of North Georgia . . . . of course, I can remember when 'Buckhead' was a six block area around the intersection of E/W Paces Ferry and Peachtree . . . .

All I'm sayin' is, Newt is exaggerating. Sure, lots of stations are out. But to say there is 'no gas' is utter nonsense. It's spotty, and hit or miss. But there's gas out there, and the longest we've waited in line so far is about 20 minutes.

Maybe we've just been inordinately lucky . . . but that's how it looks from here.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

LOL! I remember Brookhaven before they started calling it Buckhead, when Perimeter Mall was a cow field, when Doraville was a touch of country in the city and when Chamblee was not Chambodia. Soon THE address was Dunwoody. (Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would live in Cumming, home of the late Junior Samples.)

I’ll give you that Newt might have been stretching it a bit if he meant Atlanta. I wouldn’t know, I avoid Atlanta like the plague. Just not the same without the Pink Pig. :-) I am not sure what it is like in Cobb County where he lives (I think).