As we first told you earlier, here, the effects of Hurricane Ike are reaching into Central Virginia as fears about gas shortages are fueling a rush to the pumps to fill up.
First it was people rushing to get their hands on gasoline before it ran out. As of Saturday afternoon, several stations around the Nelson and surrounding area report being out of gasoline. One clerk said “The price has gone up so much that many stations are holding off on buying another load to see what happens over the coming days. Even if we could get it right now, it would be extremely expensive.” At least one comment left on our NCL site Saturday afternoon, reports three different stations out of gas.
In discussions with some area suppliers on Saturday, NCL has learned that the first of next week will tell much of the story. By then bulk plats will know how much of a delay there will be in getting supplies back online.
Refinery shutdowns, power outages, and pipeline shutdowns seem to be the cause.
See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/13/AR2008091301579.html?hpid=topnews
Excellent article, thanks for passing that along Bill!
Regardless of cause, that’s still no reason to charge $4.99 per gallon (regular) which is what Ashley’s Market was charging Friday evening, 12 Sep, the night Ike was appraoching Texas. That is price gouging and I’ve reported them to the government web site and the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs (800-552-9963). At the same time, gas prices in the surrounding areas (e.g., Fredericksburg, VA) were only 10-20 cents more than pre-Ike.
I paid 3.69 at Martins in Waynesboro today.
I think I’m going to start using the old-school bike. It gets you where you need to go…plus…burns some calories in the process! Gas is prices are ridiculous.