Gas stations run out of gas

by Amy Judd | September 30, 2008 at 10:14 am

1248 views | 25 Recommendations | 23 comments

Gas stations in the southern United States are running out of gas.

“Right now, we have no gas,” says John Rinehardt, front-end manager at Costco in Raleigh. “We are being told by corporate not to expect it for a couple of days.”

Rinehardt says he was told the cause was “a lack of supply.” Costco has put up a sign that the station is out of gas. “We’re not worried about it,” he said. “It’s just an inconvenience for everybody.”

A gas station at 220 Six Forks Road said it only had supplies of regular gas. It was out of premium and plus.

“All I know is we have gas now,” said the person answering the phone who said his name was Mike.

Still, the Triangle’s gas pumps may not be running dry as fast as in Charlotte, where AAA estimated only one in seven gas stations are open.

“The Triangle is better than that,” said Carol Gifford, a spokeswoman for AAA. “We have not had as many calls and complaints.”

Gifford blamed the situation on refineries in Houston and Louisiana that were yet to come on line after suffering damages from Hurricane Ike. AAA estimates that oil production is functioning at about 37 percent of capacity in the Houston area, while only about half of the 17 refineries in the Houston area were pumping gas.

In Clayton Atlanta, officials are hoping for fuel trucks to arrive otherwise they will not last through the weekend, not even to fuel their police cars.

Many Metro counties in the area are suffering, but Clayton’s situation is the most extreme, said Jill Stuckey, the director of Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority’s Energy Innovation Center.

Stuckey said she is trying to get a fuel delivery for Clayton today.

“Public safety is one of our main concerns,” she said. “We don’t want a fire truck to say ‘we can’t get there because we’re out of fuel.’ We’re doing everything we can to help them out if they are in dire circumstances.”

Wade Starr, director of Clayton’s 800-vehicle fleet, said he wouldn’t call Clayton’s circumstances dire, but he is concerned.

“Our situation is serious. There’s no question about it. We’re not out of gasoline and we’re still able to answer calls,” Starr said. “If she tells us we’re not going to get gas, we’re going to severely cut other services. I don’t see Friday as an Armageddon.”

Many are saying that the impact of Hurricane Gustav and Ike are still being felt and that is causing a shortage of fuel.

The Associated Press reported Monday, "A hurricane-related disruption in gasoline supplies prompted jittery drivers from Atlanta to Nashville to top off their fuel tanks more than usual, causing sporadic shortages and temporary shutdowns of stations. These closures only magnified the problem, of course, leading to more shortages, which sent local prices skyrocketing."

Asked to describe the gasoline shortage situation, Marylee A. Booth, executive director of the Tennessee Oil Marketers Association, said Monday the shortages being felt, especially in the Southeast, are the result of the continuing impact of Hurricane Gustav's shutdown of oil production in the Gulf of Mexcio and the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

However, many officials are saying that citizens shoud not be shocked if their local station does run out of gas and that all will be returned to normal soon.

Even though Governor Sonny Perdue called on the U.S. government to release some of its crude oil from the strategic reserve to help Georgians, some experts said that extra fuel may arrive at the earliest by the end of the week.

NowPublic was monitoring the gas situation back in July via our 'Oil-O-Meter'

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mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:56 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

That's all the citizens need - it can't be good for their nerves. They'll be panic-buying canned goods, before you know it!

Stan2k

at 12:57 on September 30th, 2008

This photo was taken on Tuesday, Sept 23, 2008, and I recall this just the first of 3 gas stations that day that I ran into that were completely out of gas. The 4th station had regular only.

Stan2k has contributed a photo to this story.

Stan2k

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:59 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

It was after seeing this, in person, that I knew I'd have to change my driving habits and cancel planned trips.

methodshop

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:02 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Mikasi

at 13:20 on September 30th, 2008

Thanks for the news, Amy. It makes sense and the only saving grace for me is that I live close enough to work to be able to bike.

If and when we run out around here I'll let you know.

Buster Clark

at 13:20 on September 30th, 2008

Travelling through North Carolina and Tennessee, I experienced the gas shortage first hand. In North Carolina, I tavelled hwy. 74 and found town after town without gas. When a station was found with a supply, there were sometimes hours waiting for a chance at the pumps.

Buster Clark has contributed a photo to this story.

Brian Hursey

at 13:22 on September 30th, 2008

Most or all stations have at times not had gas. Normally maybe only one or two gas stations per city some times are open. For most of the day on Sunday the no gas stations in Flowery Branch and in Oakwood Ga had gas.

Brian Hursey has contributed a photo to this story.

ElisaHH

at 14:06 on September 30th, 2008

There was only one station at exit 65 off of I-77 in South Carolina that had gas last week. It never fully ran out of gas, but there was no mid grade or supreme.

ElisaHH has contributed a photo to this story.

ludwig76

at 14:23 on September 30th, 2008

Panic at the gas pump, not panic at the disco

ludwig76 has contributed a photo to this story.

Barry Artiste

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:39 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Dr. Syb

at 15:19 on September 30th, 2008

I had no idea that there was a gas shortage. This photo was taken on Friday night, September 19 at an Exxon gas station in Hendersonville, Tennessee. At that time, you could only get premium gas for $4.25 a gallon. Rumors were running rampant. Some blamed the media while others blamed the masses. No matter the cause, the effect was real.

Dr. Syb has contributed a photo to this story.

master_jim2008

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:23 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

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.

francisrivera

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:24 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:40 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

siriusmosaics

at 15:54 on September 30th, 2008

We were told gas was coming last Friday afternoon to Charlotte, NC, but very few stations received gas. The media is reporting that the distributors are holding back from us. Now we are being told that it will take a month for things to get back to normal.

siriusmosaics has contributed a photo to this story.

Amy Judd

at 16:00 on September 30th, 2008

Thanks everyone for your flags and comments and information!

amsd2dth27

at 18:04 on September 30th, 2008

We were running errands one Saturday and while we were not in immediate need of gas, we figured we would stop if we found some. In our trip from Spring Hill to Franklin and back, we found two gas stations still pumping (though there were limits)- Kroger, and a small BP. We snuck into the BP line because the Kroger line was spilling onto the road. We were allowed 5 gallons of gas, enough to survive until early the next week when Sam's had gas again.

amsd2dth27 has contributed a photo to this story.

amsd2dth27

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 18:08 on September 30th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

sacagewea07

at 04:39 on October 1st, 2008

Fuel in Metro Atlanta was scarce last week. In my travels 95% of the stations were out of gas in a 10 mile area. Stations that did have fuel had long lines...and I was amazed that people were relatively nice and patient. Though businesses next door to the station report there had been fights there regularly.

Fuel is a little more prevalent this week. And it is nice to see people aren't queuing up just because there is fuel, not that they need it.

sacagewea07 has contributed a photo to this story.

This Is Spinal Pat

at 07:39 on October 4th, 2008

Gas shortages reached from north Georgia into southern Virginia. This photo is from a station just outside of Charlotte, NC with cars waiting for gas stretching out into the highway where traffic was directed by a station attendant.

This Is Spinal Pat has contributed a photo to this story.

Marie Leaf

at 10:18 on October 6th, 2008

I cannot figure out why trucks can't bring in fuel to this area from other parts of the country. This is a lesson for all of us in how we are so dependant on oil. Wake up America.