spinDrAtl said:
I was just out and about in Atlanta and I saw a Kroger gas station with cars lined up and there were signs saying they were temporarily out of gas. Apparently Atlanta gets a lot of it's gas through distribution centers down towards NO.
Radio was also reporting price gouging in a couple cities south of Atlanta. $3.25 and $3.35 for regular. It is $2.69 where I am and was $2.47 on Monday afternoon.
This was in the AJC this a.m.
Gas pipelines down
By STACY SHELTON, MICHAEL E. KANELL
Cox News Service
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
ATLANTA - Metro Atlanta drivers are facing the possibility of paying
considerably more than $3 a gallon for gas by Labor Day - if they can get it
at all.
The two pipelines that bring gasoline and jet fuel to the region are down -
powerless to pump as Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on electrical
infrastructure.
The metro Atlanta region generally has about a 10-day supply of gasoline in
inventory, said BP spokesman Michael Kumpf. The pipelines have been down for
two days.
Alpharetta, Ga.-based Colonial Pipeline Co., cut off from its suppliers on
the Gulf Coast, is now pumping gas from huge storage tanks, many in Powder
Springs, Ga. Whether electric power can be restored to the pipeline pumps
before supplies run out is "the great uncertainty ... that hangs over all of
us," said Daniel Moenter, a spokesman for Marathon Ashland Petroleum, a
major supplier of metro Atlanta's fuel.
Some suppliers are rationing gasoline to retailers, so some stations may
already be near empty.
With supplies uncertain, oil companies and larger wholesalers are ratcheting
up prices, partly to slow demand. Some local wholesalers already are paying
65 to 80 cents per gallon more than they paid three days ago. That kind of
price increase will hit the pumps within a few days.
On Monday, the scare talk was about prices hitting $3 a gallon at the pump.
By Tuesday, that line had changed for the worse, said Tex Pitfield,
president of Saraguay Petroleum Corp., which delivers gas to retailers.
"Depending on how much damage has actually taken place and the time involved
in getting the infrastructure up and running, is $4 a gallon out of the
question? Not necessarily," he said.
Peter Beutel, an oil analyst with Cameron Hanover, told The Associated
Press: ''This is the big one. This is unmitigated bad news for consumers.''
It's unclear how soon the pipeline outages may affect operations at
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Fuel suppliers and airlines have 22 storage tanks at the airport that hold
up to 27.6 million gallons of fuel. At full capacity, that's enough for
about 10 days of fuel at the airlines' recent daily consumption rate of 2.8
million gallons.
No information was immediately available on how much fuel remains in the
tanks.
Gov. Sonny Perdue's office is aware of the situation and is meeting with
Georgia's fuel suppliers.
"We know that they're on top of this issue, and they're assessing damage to
their production and distribution process in the wake of Hurricane Katrina,"
said Heather Hedrick, Perdue's press secretary.
Hedrick said it's too early to say whether Georgians should be concerned.
"In order to answer that question fairly, the governor needs a full briefing
from fuel suppliers in Georgia," she said. "We're waiting for that
information now."
Metro Atlanta motorists already pay a little more for gas than those in
surrounding states because of a clean-fuel requirements to reduce air
pollution.
Perdue issued a statement Tuesday saying those requirements would be lifted
temporarily to increase supplies and lower prices, once the pipelines are
again operational.
Perdue's decision, which awaits approval from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, would affect 45 counties in and around metro Atlanta.
"The governor felt it was important to take some steps to help alleviate gas
prices that have been increasing for weeks now," Hedrick said.
Lisa Ray, a spokeswoman with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said
the department is prepared to help deal with any gas shortages.
"We have talked to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and they said
supplies are not a problem in Georgia at this time," Ray said.
GEMA is a coordinating agency for emergency support functions.
