North American Fuel Shortage Reports

Hogan

Thanks for the post, hope_full. It's always good to hear first-hand experiences. I think sometimes gas station owners skip higher grade gasolines stocks due to lower sales and profits. If we start seeing this regularly around the US, it might start to raise some alarms. But I'm just guessing. Perhaps other members here can give you a better answer than I can.
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f2tornado · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 21, 2008 Posts: 51

Some small scale station owners simply cannot afford the next tankful and are therefor draining existing supply as much as possible before purchasing another load. I'm certain some station owners will not openly admit this problem for fear of damaging consumer confidence in the stations' ability to provide for the customer. I am not aware of any supply disruptions in the area that would cause a fuel shortage.

Gas Stations Running on Empty
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/jun2008/bw20080616_634598.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Barbara

In my country smaller stations are saying they can't afford being in business anymore. Their income-per-liter is fixed so they can't go on sustaining expenses.
I think we'll see a lot of closed stations, not because of gas shortages, but because of bankrupts.
Sad

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SoylentGreen · Heavy Crude Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 168

nobody is buying higher grades anymore.

3aidlillahi

Heineken

I have seen a number of mostly smaller, Mom-and-Pop-style gas stations going out of business in the Virginia countryside.

The problem of gas theft is growing in the urban areas. Some thieves are making off with astounding quantities of gasoline. In Richmond some guy did something to the pump that enabled him and a succession of allied vehicles to steal multiple tankfuls.

Also I saw an article in a paper saying that gas stations' thinning profit margin is making credit-card fees unsupportable; a few will no longer accept credit cards---surely Americans' most important source of "cash."

Ultimately gas stations may come to resemble armed forts, with many restrictive controls in place, including, eventually, rationing.
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jdumars

Tell your husband that keeping the tank full ensures that the fuel pump stays cool and doesn't stop working. Running the tank down can also put fuel injection systems at risk. For everything you do to prepare, there's always at least 10 other good reasons to do it.

In terms of rural stations, I haven't seen in pump outages here in the backwoods around Nashville. Things seem pretty status quo.
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SILENTTODD

Have yet to see this in Southern California yet, but have read in the LA Times, and Orange County Register it is currently a problem is outlying areas of Northern California.

Gas is expensive, $4.67, but it is currently available in all grades. Better expensive gas than "NO GAS".
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MonteQuest

PeakOiler · Last edited by PeakOiler on Sun Jun 22, 2008 4:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

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ohcomeon · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 10, 2006 Posts: 122 Location: USA

We do have stations in our area (Western NC/Piedmont NC) who are charging a different price if you use credit cards. That's not that unusual, since some franchises have always had a slight difference per gallon (say .03) but now the signs say "Cash price posted". If you want to use a credit card you will pay 3-4% more per gallon, Which right now is 12-16 cents per gallon. There are rumblings that they may just stop taking the cards all together because it is very confusing and is angering folks who are mad about having to pay more. (I know, not logical, but they're mad so they have to take it out on someone and they can't get to the credit card companies I guess.)

I always use my debit card and pay at the pump, but my gas station isn't charging the fee yet. If they start I will definitely move to cash. It's probably just a matter of time...

Also, there are reports of the Mom and Pop stations here and there closing due to not being able to afford the next load of fuel, but I have no firsthand knowledge of it.

TheDude

Mexico begins rationing gasoline to station owners

As likely as not an artificial shortage, to deal with Nortenos hopping the border to get some of that subsidized action. But still...

DantesPeak

This gas pump at the 7-11 at 84th Street and Highway 21 states the obvious as Petro-Canada continues to have distribution and supply problems as a result of the shutdown.

DantesPeak

DantesPeak