What's the deal with gasoline availability/price?

Many friends in NC and SC still having trouble finding gas. Long lines when they do find it. Prices in Central VA are still above the national avg. -- $3.76 average for Albemarle County today - wife got it the other day for $3.63. It was as low as $3.49 before Ike.

Gasbuddy.com showing some of the highest prices in NC, SC, and GA. Unless you want to include AK -- no shortage, just high prices -- sister is paying $4.56 gallon in Homer.

 

From what I've seen on CNN & MSNBC the afflicted areas are serviced by the pipeline from the Texas refineries that were shut down. It will be a couple more weeks before the refineries are back on line & gas is flowing through the pipe. I've heard Georgia, Miss., and the Carolinas have problems.

 

Atlanta area is definitely in the shortage area. $4 prices when you can find the gas. My wife spent an hour cruising around to find an station that had gas for our Honda. After find none at our regular stations she saw a tanker pull in to a station and she was fourth or fifth in line.

We finally picked up our Prius a week ago and got the tank top off Friday at Sam's after a 20 minute wait. Thus we are now covered for the duration of the "crisis". Clayton County was on the news tonight where the police are running low on gas. They aren't driving Prii.

 

western nc has had it pretty bad, as has nashville. DH passes lines at the gas station all the time, once talked to a cop who said that fights were breaking out at the stations that have gas. we're still in the near-$4 range here in the triangle, with a few shortages leading up to last weekend. i passed several stations before i found a place to fill up.

they're blaming it on the refineries... the story i've read is that gas only moves a couple mph in the pipes and people are buying any up as soon as it gets here.

funny enough, DH had no problems finding diesel, and price even went down for a while.

 

The pipeline was down up here a week or two back, but no problem getting gas. Filled on at $3.39 up north today.

 

many ARCO's (cash/debit) in Los Angeles metro area at $3.35 or less today.
plentiful, no out-of-stocks, no lines what-so-ever.

our system is screwed up.

 

$3.69 for Shell in Renton/Seattle, WA today. No shortages.

 

If I understand correctly, it's not just the pipeline issue in the Atlanta region, but also the formulation required for smog regs. Since the requirements are specific, the region appears to be "sole source" supplied by the pipeline.

 

Cheapest I've seen are ARCO stations in San Diego. $3.42 is the all time low i've seen this week

 

I doubt that is a reason.

September 13, 2008
"In a brief televised statement, Bush said Environmental Protection Agency waivers on certain reformulated gasolines were suspended Friday night to make it easier for imports to get to U.S. markets."

Complaints of rising gas prices as Ike hits - CNN.com

 

Yep, from what I've seen on TV and seen in TiVo Community and TiVo Community (you'll need a Tivocommunity account to see them), it's a problem in the SE.

There are no shortages in Nor Cal at all. It's interesting to see people in one of those threads fuming about the gas prices when we'd seen prices like those for months in Cali.

From the 5:30 pm Tuesday CBS News, they mention that some people are waiting two hours in line. They mention that AAA says that 80% of gas stations in Charlotte, NC have no gas.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/30/national/main4490594.shtml has some of the same info and the video there might be the same/similar to what they broadcats.

 

There is no gas here in Charlotte. When there is there are long lines. People are waiting around an hour to get gas. Some are even parked at the pump waiting for the tanker to drop of the shipment to the gas station because they are in E.

Last week AAA Said they towed 200 cars because they ran out of gas.

 

I think panic and hoarding are part of the problem. I heard the thing about smog requirements once last week, but no one has mentioned it since. Apparently Charlotte has fewer gas stations per capita than any other city.

I got lucky and happened by a gas station with a short line just as my tank dropped to two pips on Saturday. :high5:

Last week the radio traffic reporters were saying specific things like "there's a jam at South and Archdale caused by a gas line", but that just made more people rush over there because they knew that station would have gas. They had to start saying "expect backups near any station that has gas".

Right now, it seems about 1 in 5 stations has gas and prices are in the high $3 to low $4 range.

 

How so? That refers to IMPORTS, not regs within the U.S. (it is also nonsensical as suspending a waiver would have the opposite impact...or maybe that explains what they did wrong this time around. :biggrin1

Part of what I've read is that Georgia's Republican Governor Sonny Perdue didn't request a waiver until Sept. 22 and it was granted on the 23rd.
Perdue Delayed Asking For Gas Shortage Help - News Story - WSB Atlanta Don't know how quickly supply would be redirected after that, but a deep hole was already dug.

From another site in Atlanta Many factors combine to fuel gas shortage | ajc.com

If history is any guide I wouldn't put much stock in any actions Bush claims to have taken to address a crisis ahead of time, partiuclarly with regard to hurricanes.

 

No shortages here in Colorado. Prices have been steadily declining. I filled up this morning for $3.44/gal (regular).

 

Here in Greenville, SC gas is just now starting to be readily available. It's been very hit or miss for the last 2 weeks though.