Out of gas....

[AdvAutoBob]

Cape Coral, Florida here.....

Gas stations all over the city are out of gas with only diesel fuel left (glad I have a Duramax!). The prices are around $2.99 for regular with a high of $3.11 for premium that I saw. The remaining stations have VERY long lines.... lots of panic buying from what I see. And we're 850 miles away...

[Lutrastorm]

Bethany Beach, Delaware... paid 3.35 today for regular, was 2.87 yesterday, haven't seen shortages anywhere around here.

[CentralFlGal]

Oh, this is just insane! People should only get gas when necessary. There will be gas. The price will be higher. True prices - not gouging. Then it will go down slightly.

All this hype is causing right now is gas stations that usually serve 500 cars a day (hypothetically) are now forced to try to serve more than double that amount. I hope they are posting signs that warn about sediment at the bottom of those almost-empty tanks...

Saudi is ramping up production. Heard a blurb on the TV about that earlier. We still have reserves. We'll get production back online as soon as it is safe to do so. The observation a member had here about this being Mad Max is not far from the truth at all.

There are bigger fish to fry right now rather than worrying about filling up vehicles which are not one's primary mode of transportation. Can't remember where I heard the following, but it is profound: people don't complain when their homes increase 30% in value in one year, but do when the price of gas goes up. I suppose that only in certain circumstance, capitalism is good.

*edited to include that this post appears in no particular order nor is it a direct response to any other members' posts here. My rant stems from having to wait behind resident RVs at the gas station yesterday. The current run on gas is causing the high spike in gas prices; we wouldn't be seeing such a dramatic change if the hype weren't present.

[crazycajuncane]

Gas is running out by the minute here. Most stations took the numbers down in South Lafayette. Some with just premium left. Gas prices range from 2.79 to 2.99 and BLANK.

[NC George]

Price here in Greenville, NC; 3.29 for regular, but they don't have that in stock right now. My car takes premium anyway.

[MBismyPlayground]

I guess I am lucky coz the BP here just got a new tank in.....they are extemely over priced but......I have seen several gas trucks today here.
Of course,the way people are freaking out, who knows.

[BaltimoreGirl]

the local BP here was $3.09 yesterday (when other stations were avg $2,89) Today I drove by the BP-it was $3.79 for regular. All the other stations are $3.05 to $3.09.

[WhirlWind]

We are in Naples Fl, and went to the gas station last evening, it was total chaos, the lines were long, if you could find a station that had gas, and the prices unreal. My hubby found a station this morning with gas and paid 52.00 to fill his van. We have limited out travels considerably, and are trying to find a carpool to our sons school.
WhirlWind

[JenBayles]

OK people - do any of you have a clue as to the damage sustained by the oil industry from Katrina? Do you realize refinery production is down by 35%? Yes, there is some panic buying that's driving up shortages and prices, but the bulk of it is simply supply and demand. Remember the summer we had only one refinery down and the entire midwest was paying over $3.00 a gallon? That was only ONE refinery - we now have FIVE (or seven depending on what report you listen to). In addition, the terminals where tanker trucks pick up the product were damaged.

Now let's talk about the production platforms. The pictures and reports of damage to offshore rigs are finally coming in and it will be a long long time before they're back in production again. Getting a refinery or a production rig up and running is a lot more involved that say, rebooting your computer.

And just who do you think has the know-how to get all this work done? You guessed it: the people who used to live on the Gulf Coast who are now homeless.

We are all going to have to sacrifice for a while, who knows how long, and there isn't a blessed thing anyone, including the President, can do to speed it up.

I did hear yesterday that President Bush rescinded and stupid regulation forbidding the importation of refined gasoline. We can at least start buying refined product from other countries to help avoid the bottlenecks at the refining end.

[OtherHD]

Have there been any estimates as to when the pipelines might be back up and running and te US might return to some semblance of normalcy?