It started last night with posts on social media, “my brother works at Halliburton and he said…”. Things were OK this morning, even up to 11am, but things are starting to go downhill.
Lots of stations already out of gas, got people driving out of the city into outlying towns buying gas, people filling up gas cans… its crazy.
I will say, would not be surprised to see this one spread statewide, and even nationwide, as more is learned about the true state of Houston and the Gulf Coast oil facilities.
That is the problem though. The gas systems everywhere operate on a very predictable pattern. When that pattern gets disrupted (even just by people getting extra gas in cans and filling up more often) that messes up the whole system.
A year or so ago, one of the pipelines that goes through AL had a leak and it caused a blip, but everyone panicking and buying more gas than normal caused stations to run out.
I hope people do not panic to the point of making it a larger issue than it truly is (though of course that will never happen).
D/FW’s a mess too. Hour+ long lines at gas stations, if they’re not out yet.
Mostly seems to be a panic for the sake of a panic. Refinery capacity is down a little, sure, but once everyone started thinking “I better fill up for the holiday weekend, just in case” it all spiraled out of control.
I don’t get the California panic. California uses its own refineries due to the special fuel requirements. While there may be a slight impact on supply due to production decline in Texas the oil that was going to Texas refineries should easily be able to be rerouted to California to make up for it.
Now if people panic and buy way in excess they can cause their own problem but the baseline issue shouldn’t be a reality.
ETA: I’ve had several people out here tell me it’s time to go buy gas. So it’s not just a Texas panic.
How long until we start reading news articles about how people can no longer afford to fill up their tank-sized SUVs? Of course, each article will use the phrase “pain at the pump.”
The refineries in that area will be down for 2 weeks. Who cares if it goes up to $2.50? We were paying $3.50 before we increased oil production. 2 weeks is nothing.
I myself am always calm and rational, but the number of news stories about people panicking may lead to widespread panic. And I feel the rational response is to rush (calmly and rationally) to the gas station to make calm, rational purchases of enough gas to last me 6 months.
It’s also a vacation weekend, with many people using tomorrow to stretch into a 4 day weekend. Gas usage on Labor Day is always high, and panic hoarding is finishing the job of draining the city.
Of course, the “joke” is that nobody has anywhere to go as all the typical vacay spots were devastated by Harvey.
Gosh, haven’t seen 2.03 in months, maybe a year here in Utah. Just paid 2.59/gal for the cheapest stuff.
I suspect there are more disruptions to come; Irma looms.
You’re not kidding. The SA gas panic is in full swing this evening. Cars hanging out into the streets, blocking roads that are already blocked by preexisting road construction. Took an hour to get home this evening, apparently because everyone is out looking for gas. Usually it’s not this bad unless there’s been an accident on 410 or it’s Christmas.
This is the kind of mentality that causes stock market crashes. I filled up 2 days ago before the panic hit. Hope things improve before I need to fill up again.
The thing is, to my knowledge, there are no strategic gasoline reserves. There is a strategic oil reserve, and part of that is being released, but that’s just crude oil being sent to existing refineries that are still in operation.
I guess if those refineries are currently operating at less that full capacity, and it’s somehow not possible to get oil to those refineries through normal capitalistic methods, then this can help?
Overall supply is steady and demand is way down. Some midstream disruption but that’s localized so YMMV. Houston has had steady natural gas, so farther inland should be fine for the most part.
