gas shortage? any truth to it?

[mgm2003]

9 gallons cost me $30 this morning. Ouch! If this is a long term thing, these prices are going to hit us in most everything we purchase.

[Jngrbrdman]

With a gas station on every corner around here I don`t think I`ll need to shop around too much. I am glad that I live in the part of the valley where fuel prices have always been the lowest. I guess that could mean that everybody else will come here to get their gas, but we`ll see. I topped off both cars just before the last big jump and we`ll see how long I can make that last. For a turbo AWD car that does all city driving I`m not getting terrible gas milage, but 20 mpg can always be improved on. Jennifer`s Accord gets nearly 30 mpg on a regular basis. I might have to start sharing her car for awhile. It could save me a few bucks. I don`t think I can drive less than I do, so I don`t really have any choice but to weather the storm.

[JaredPointer]

I don`t think I can drive less than I do, so I don`t really have any choice but to weather the storm.

So true. That`s why the majority of us are "over a barrel." :helpsmili

[norahcrv]

Well, I feel like I should frame today`s gas receipt - last one I`ll see under $30.00!! I paid $ 2.899 / gallon of Regular Unleaded & the stations on the other two corners had already jacked theirs up to $2.99 !!

[Bellydawg]

Here`s a little general info. Colonial Pipeline runs from Houston through the south and then up to New York City area. Plantation Pipeline runs from Baton Rouge to the Washington DC area. With power out in the hurricane region, the pumping stations are unable to boost the flow and pressure on the pipelines. Most of the these pipelines are fed by other shorter lines from the refineries in the area.

The refineries that produce gas and diesel, except for the Exxon refinery in the Baton Rouge area, are idle. The main problem being people and power. Most of the refineries produce their own power but people have been unable to reach the area to check for damage and test equipment. Also with the hurricane on the way, tank farms will rearrange the volumes in the tanks, reduce or gain, so that the tanks can best withstand the winds.

One help is that the EPA has agreed to relax the clean air standards for sulfur content in gas and diesel until Sept. 15. Currently around the US there are at least 16 different formulas for gasoline depending upon where it is sold. Most of the standards are due to the states imposing their own requirements.

With the above information, one could say that the some of the price increases are due to supply and demand while others could be due to gouging.

Hope this explains some of what is going on out there.

Good luck and be safe.

Jim

[keeotee]

Thanks for that info Jim. Good post. I`d add that the EPA regs have also helped to increase the price of gas over the years, and then we have quite a bit in there that are straight taxes - we don`t want to forget about that!

I believe we also are in a bit of a fix because over the past two decades or so we haven`t been drilling to the extent we could have and should have, building nuclear power plants as we should have nor have we built new refineries as we should have.

That being said, anytime we run into this kind of a mess, we`re going to feel the heat from legitimate reasons and I think too from gouging. Some are likely taking advantage of us while they can.

[mtwedt]

Outlets raising their prices now are generating pure profit for themselves and/or their suppliers. They are trying to make money as the shortage hits to sustain themselves during low fuel supply times to stay afloat. I can accept this within reason for a period of time. Crude oil is still over 20 bucks a barrel. Our Gulf of Mexico operations for obtaining and refine crude has been seriously degraded by Katrina as well as the production and distribution of natural gas. Much of Louisiana sits on one of the largest natural gas fields in production. Tying to stockpile gas is a sure receipe for potentially burning yours and probably some of your neighbors houses down. Cut down on use to make what gas we can refine to serve the SE in diasater relief. Another huge concern in the area is the supply of aviation gas and getting it to where it is needed. Much extra av-gas is being burned up by havine to fly extra miles to get to and from the fuel supplies. Most of the aircraft that are being used do not have in-flight refueling capability and have to put down somewhere to gas up. I imagine getting all types of fuel for use in transport of all types into these areas is a logistical nightmare....the buses and helos and planes have got to be able to do a round trip on the fuel they carry bcause it is almost impossible to refuel near the diasaster areas. Every bit of fuel for the efforts of the police, National Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers probably has to be trucked in under armed guard and them guarded at the dispersal points, taking up more resources and negatively impacting evacuation efforts. I finally lost it completely when the reports of snipers shooting at the Med-Evac people and turning over their airboats that were being used to evac Charity Hospital, whose chopper pad is under water and have to ferry patients across the street to a 9 story parking garage and then physically haul patients up there. When is the last time any of you tried to move 300 pounds of dead weight? I have to do this daily to move patients up in bed or into a chair or to start ambulating and the injury rate in my unit is skyrocketing! Up 8 flights of stairs? Mother of God! I have never wanted to shoot anybody in my life, but I think I would gladly pull the trigger on the vermin that are doing that. As a critical care nurse, I just cry at the thought of what my colleagues and their patients are going through and wonder if I would have the stamina and courage to stick it out in conditions like that if such an event were to hit Portland OR and we won`t even have to deal with that kind of heat and humidity. I can only hope that I would be up to such a challenge.

[HappyDetailGuy]

I think next week I will get a nice long rope and tie my car to someone going in the same direction Maybe just maybe this will get me by till prices go down or I win the Lotto Millions :punk:

[PhaRO]

I think there is a gas shortage in some area when the public panics and fills up all at once. A customer of mine asked someone he knew that was in the oil business. The story made sense to me and I`ve know him for years. Basically that stations are getting 75% of their normal volume. High prices curb useage so if and when they run out; the amount of customers affected is small. I`ve seen isolated incidents around here of stations running out of fuel. The oil man told him to just have his crews fill up in the morning as most will get refueled overnight/early morning. I was going to refill my detailing truck yesterday but decided against it. I have to work Monday (sigh) so will refill it then. Normally I wouldn`t refill for another 60 miles (gauge is broke so I go by trip lol) but it won`t hurt just incase the sky does fall. Tank will last me two weeks and my other truck has a larger tank and is over half full. I could go almost a month if gas runs out providing someone doesn`t siphon my tanks

[SilverLexus]

Currently around the US there are at least 16 different formulas for gasoline depending upon where it is sold.

Actually about 47 in total I am told. We should just have a national standard and be done with it: that way gas reserves from other states would be fine. Better yet Bush should eliminate the 47 varieties.

There is good news if you pay attention...power is being restored to refineries and gas prices have already factored in supply disruptions. I believe that gas prices will drift lower over time as production capacity returns.

[keeotee]

I too heard there are almost 50 some different varieties of gas. This is due to different states requiring different gases. How nice of the EPA to lift this requirement for a couple weeks. Ain`t they special.

We`ve had environmentalists in this country fighting tooth and nail for years now. Whether you agree with them or not, this is where we are. If we demand certain things, there is a price to pay for it. Now we are once again paying the peice. Is it fully paid yet? I doubt it. We can`t have it both ways in this country. No drilling to where we can be independent of others from oil, no new refineries because of regulations, well, everything comes with a price. No drilling in ANWR because it might upset a few caribou, well, ride a caribou to work then. But we don`t get away with such things withbout paying a price for it.

What does feed for a caribou cost? Anyone know off-hand?

[scrub]

I`m getting real tired of everyone other than the American consumer being looked after and taken care of. Big business, environmentalists, lobbyists... Its time for the government to look out for the good folks that make this country great. "We the people", remember that.

$200 million of our tax dollars in the new energy bill went to highway beatification projects rather than grants to companies trying to devise a more fuel efficient car. The people that control the budget are way out of touch with the average American consumer(me and you). We have no say so in pork projects that shouldn`t be funded anyway. Its time for fundamental reform in Washington politics. What ever happened to the saying "power to the people"? Now its power to wealthy big business and special interest groups.

Where the country is going and what our founding fathers were trying to get away from are slowly becoming one and the same.

Just had to vent before I go fill up at the gas station. Now back to you`re regular scheduled program.

[mtwedt]

I`m getting real tired of everyone other than the American consumer being looked after and taken care of. Big business, environmentalists, lobbyists... Its time for the government to look out for the good folks that make this country great. "We the people", remember that.

$200 million of our tax dollars in the new energy bill went to highway beatification projects rather than grants to companies trying to devise a more fuel efficient car. The people that control the budget are way out of touch with the average American consumer(me and you). We have no say so in pork projects that shouldn`t be funded anyway. Its time for fundamental reform in Washington politics. What ever happened to the saying "power to the people"? Now its power to wealthy big business and special interest groups.

Where the country is going and what our founding fathers were trying to get away from are slowly becoming one and the same.

Just had to vent before I go fill up at the gas station. Now back to you`re regular scheduled program.

I think you have raised some excellent points, especially about "pork projects". I recently read of a bridge that is bieng built in Alaska to the tune of tens of millions of dollars that will serve a population fo about 300 on the island that it is going to. No doubt, the senator or congressman who pushed that through will have the bridge named for him and use it as fodder for re-election. Pork in major bills I think is one of the reasons that Reagan was so insistent on trying to get line-item veto powers. Has anybody heard if our "good friends", the Saudis and Kuwaitis have offered crude to us at something less than 20 bucks a barrel to help out with disaster relief? The Venezualan government has, although I don`t know if we have taken them up on it.

[keeotee]

I wasn`t aware of the offer for oil at such low prices, but if true, we ought to take them up on it. I`ve heard that quite a few countries are offering aid of one form or another to us, and I`m very pleased to see this happening. We as a nation, both at the government level and the private sector have given much to countries in need over the years and it`s just very good to see it returned in kind.

[512detail]

93 is out as far as I can find.... I have a client in Fredericksburg who can`t even find any and may have to reschedule a weekend drop off coming up

if anyone is in the central TX area and knows where I can find 93 or even 100, let me know