Out of Gas

[Hoghappy]

I tried to get gas on the way home and there is none to be had in Millbrook, Alabama. It was $3.59 this morning and $4.70 before it ran out this afternoon. I was one car away at one station but didn't get to the pump in time...man this is crazy! :mad:

[Predreadnut]

I just heard that gas might double or even triple in price in the next couple day!!!!! They're also saying this is a worse case scenerio. Everyone say a prayer for the victims. The Galveston Police dept. have now said that if you dont leave,please write your social security on your arm.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Well it is Hurricane season.
Everyone wants a full tank, plus two or three five gallon cans for the generator plus a full tank of propane for the heater and the bar-b-que...

Price hikes are expected to the point just short of "gouging".

[Predreadnut]

Now there saying that thousands of homes in S. Louisanna are under water and that was done as Ike just brushed by. They are saying that 11,000 people have stayed behind in Galveston and the National Weather Service has said that they face "certain death" This is scary stuff. The storm is going to head up the Houston ship channel. This also where the battleship Texas is located.

[Aerominded]

Short of gouging??? Granted, we paid $4.70/gallon here in CA this summer, I would call 3.59 to 4.70 in one day terrible!!! I would say that is full-on gouging!!! <not being critical of your comment, Umi, just shocked at the price increase>

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

There are laws against gounging, and the fines increase if done during an emergency, or against a senior citizen.... So I am sure, that the retailers are doing their best to avoid
any unlawful gouging... :rolleyes:

[420TEE]

They, like every other shyster, figure there are so many others doing it they won't get caught, and most don't. What is the definition of "gouging" anyway. $1 a gallon in two hours? $3 a gallon in two hours? Did Exxon tell Mac to raise his price $3 or did Mac see a new boat under his Xmas tree and to hell with the poor guy trying to get his family to safety. There are many times I would like to go back to the old west way of justice.

[Hoghappy]

I live in the middle of Alabama...there ain't a storm within 400 miles of here. It's even worse in other places here 5 and even 6 bucks a gallon...if you can find gas. People have gone nuts here....I saw on the news it's the same in Florida and the Carolinas. I'm going to have to use some of my lawnmower gas, to get to the hospital, 80 miles away. My sister is in the UAB trauma center after she wrecked her car head on into a concrete culvert Wednesday. No seat belt...went over the air bag...not pretty. Broke up from head to toe but alive.

Point is ...if I had not been somewhat prepared...I would be completely SOL on gas. Even if your out of harms way...you need to be prepared for anything and everything. As for those in harms way...I hope everyone will say a prayer for them...they need it.

[gpzy]

Hoghappy,
A prayer for them and your sister.

Manny

[420TEE]

I'm in northern TN and I hear stations are out of gas here. Why? Wholesalers holding back the gas they've got till the prices skyrocket? Talk about an industry that needs strict regulation along with phamaceuticals. Greed rules. Hope you don't need to buy plywood for three months.
Oh yeah. My wife had a Pacemaker put in today down in Nashville and I may not be able to go see her tomorrow.
You're doing a heck of a job, Georgie.

[Aerominded]

That is awful, Hoghappy...

[Greysquirrel]

Same here in WNC, only stations with gas are the BP, one station is $4.99 for mid grade, another one mile away is $4.19, go figure.
I was supposed to head for FL. tomorrow but I doubt there is gas anywhere along the I 95 corridor.

I heard on a news broadcast that the reason for the shortage is that the distributors it Texas did not no the storm was going to hit them so they did not have time to get their trucks rolling.

Now for anyone who believes that, I have some oceanfront property for sale here in the mountains.

[steamboatmodel]

Gas here in Toronto jumped 12 cents a Liter overnight.
The Gas dealers have us all by the short and curlys.
Regards,
Gerald

[420TEE]

Gas here in Toronto jumped 12 cents a Liter overnight.
The Gas dealers have us all by the short and curlys.
Regards,
Gerald

And the polititians who could step in and stop the gouging right now are sitting on their hands mumbling about supply and demand and what ever other fabrication their oil company masters tell them to say and watching their bank accounts grow through the back door. Why isn't a fuel shortage for the military considered a threat to national security? The White House has used that excuse for far less serious events in the past. Oh yeah, GWB is an oil man. Them-1, Us-0. :mad:

[John Pilot]

Here in Little Rock, AR. prices have gone up too, but after the Attorney General came on the news last night stating they wouldn't put up with any price gouging and encouraged anyone to report anything that looked even remotely like it, prices have moderated some.... I wonder why? :rolleyes:

[Prins Willem]

During the week gas jumped 20 cents on Tuesday when they got a little more confident on Ike's path, then on Wednesday it dropped 18 cents (I filled up then) and yesterday it scooted back up 21 cents. Around here it is like playing roulette.

I hope things begin to calm down soon. I'm going to visit my brother in Georgia the second week of October. I'm not so worried about my trip as they won't need excess people using resources in the south if fuel etc. is scarce.

The Tugboat Enthusiasts Society chose Galveston for their annual gathering this year (Oct 12-16). At the end of the registration letter it says:

"A meeting at Galveston inevitably brings up the subject of hurricanes. Are they a threat to the Gathering? Yep/Maybe. The early-season activity this year is “proof” that a hurricane is statistically less-likely to hit Galveston in October! Anyhow, a survey of several past-Gathering attendees indicated the threat of a hurricane wouldn’t faze them. (In case of an imminent hurricane, cancellation is, however, a possibility!"

The best laid plans I guess. Hoghappy and 420TEE I hope your family members will do well. All you GOM ers keep your heads down and your chins up.

[seaphoto]

Just a few thoughts to balance the discussion...

I don't know about other states, but in California operating a gas station is a very hard business. Every few years a new set of environmental regulations are passed down - if you live in the state, and noticed a lot of gas stations are under construction, you are seeing the latest round, at 100-200k per location. (Have you noticed those propane looking tanks popping up at gas stations?) Those "improvements" need to be paid for, and quickly, as every few years there will be more.

The typical station makes around 12 to 20 cents per gallon profit. If the customer uses a credit card, there goes 2-3%; at 4.00 per gallon that is 8-12 cents of that profit. Not of lot of room for error in this business.

When the price of gas goes up quickly, the gas station operator takes the full brunt of the public anger. The TV cameras start rolling, and the reporters clicking their tongues; I guarantee that TV stations make more than gas stations, but who investigates them? If one of their shows becomes a ratings hit, they charge more for advertising on it - is this price gouging, or supply and demand? How cynical the media is while whipping up public outrage to fuel it's own profits. Note that they use these kind of stories to hook viewers into watching their news programs, where advertising is sold. Conflict of interest?

Here is an exercise - Take the price of gas in 1980, and the price of just about anything else - cars, houses, tv advertising in 1980. Has the price of fuel gone up disproportionally?

The guy that jacks up his prices overnight might look like gouging. But if he runs out of gas, and cannot get resupplied for several days, he makes nothing during those closed days. The rent, payroll, insurance, workman's compensation, and loan payments keep rolling along. Be assured the oil company will raise the wholesale price of gas to him soon enough too, since they are allowed to charge different prices to their dealers on a corner to corner basis, and use this tactic to punish anyone who makes more than they think is fair (excepting themselves of course).

This of course doesn't make it easier for someone who see's their gas bill go up dramatically overnight, but hopefully it will provide some insight as to why, beyond simple greed.

[pkboo]

Best wishes for your sister HH! Boo.

[Aerominded]

Bush has apparently just suspended certain EPA requirements to allow the importation of refined oil (gasoline) to the U.S. to ease the supply issue... should be interesting to see what happens...

[Prins Willem]

We have a interesting problem here in Metro Milwaukee. In the early 90's the feds mandated we use reformulated gasoline to help with air quality. This adds approximately 14 cents per gallon. The oil companies are required to make a summer blend and winter blend. Since the rule was enacted gasoline has gotten less polluting and cars have gotten much more efficient. Last spring when the prices spiked one of the things that came up was the RFG. Every expert questioned has said the RFG is no longer necessary but the government hasn't seen fit to do away with it.

When I hear our senators (Kohl & Feingold) say they want to do something about gas prices I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[green-boat]

Years ago I don't remember the price of gas going up when a hurricane hit. The oil companies will find any excuse to raise the price of oil.............. who's gonna sneeze next.

[seaphoto]

Decades of poor policy are finally striking our pockets in a big way...

Years ago we had excess oil refining capacity and fewer autos on the road. Now we have much less reserve capacity, and haven't built a new refinery in 30+ years, so even the threat of a gulf coast interruption can cause a spike in wholesale prices. As a country, we need to get serious about an realistic energy policy, one that combines liquid auto fuels, nuclear energy (we haven't built a new reactor in the same time period), drilling, refining and research into future alternatives. Any bets on when that is going to happen?

Kurt

[jeepers1940]

I feel that we all need to take a very serious look at the people whom we elect to represent us in Congress. A lot of the current problems have their origins there; some judicious weeding out is in order.

[Predreadnut]

The US has one of the largest supplies of natural gas in the world, its more effient, and burns cleaner. I guess we're waiting for the oil companies to divisify into that area,so they wont miss out on all the $$$$ when we switch? I swear, a planet killing asteroid could be heading for Earth and we'd all die while the big corporations fought over who was going to get the contract to save us!!!!

[seaphoto]

I think the oil companies would much rather see cars converted to a liquid fuel, as that would allow the use of the existing infrastructure. A gaseous fuel, be it hydrogen or hydrocarbon based would require a massive investment in fueling facilities, pipelines, tankers and the other components in the fuel delivery system.

Pressurized gas is also far more hazardous than liquid fuel. The more vehicles on the road that use it, the greater the potential for accidents. There are of course many vehicles that use propane as a fuel already, but they are a tiny fraction of the total vehicle population, and filling stations are relatively rare, and tend to be smaller in energy capacity than conventional gas stations. (Gasoline has been a very efficient way to store and delivery energy for a long time, one of the reason it prevailed over other types of liquid fuel)

Kurt

[Hoghappy]

Gas was $3.49.9 a gallon on Thursday night and jumped 10 cents over night...that was expected but not the insanity that we have here now. There is no gas and hasn't been any since Friday at the stations along the interstate exit where I live. Were talking Shell, Chevron, Texaco and numerous others. The place I do business sold out at $4.69.9 a gallon and never got more. I paid $4.39.9 for gas yesterday at a convenience store that did get some...they are limited in the amount they can sell per day. :confused: :mad:

[Shaun Hendricks]

This is a shocker. I just filled up over the weekend for $3.81.9 here in Central Cali. We always have awful gas prices.

Hurricane Ike looks to be an excuse for someone. The gas prices should calm back down shortly. A barrel of oil is plummeting in price by comparison.

[Predreadnut]

Here in Missouri,as of this morning, a gallon of gas is still $3.79, same as yesterday and Saturday.The manager of the local gas station said,"We have plenty of gas, we just got a load." She acted like she didnt know what I was talking about. We are lucky in that we routinely have some of the lowest gas prices in the country. Today a buddy of mine at work volunteered to come over and help cut up the fallen tree in my backyard. One of the branches snapped off clean, I've never seen one like that before.

[green-boat]

The local QT here has been out of gas since last Saturday and won't get any more till Wednesday if they are lucky.

[Predreadnut]

On the way home today, I heard on the radio that the refineries are not back up and running yet. I'd make sure you top off your tanks in case supplies run out.