Many gas pumps across Chattanooga and North Georgia went dry Tuesday, leaving motorists searching for fuel.

“I was worried that I wouldn’t get any gas at all,” said Cari Yeomans, who was traveling from Knoxville to Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday when she found regular unleaded at a Texaco near Interstate 24.

“This is not a good time to be on the road right now,” she said. “I was sort of scared that there wouldn’t be any gas.”

Mapco, which operates more than 60 stores around Chattanooga, was without fuel at most of its Chattanooga branches, said Paula Lovell, a spokeswoman for the Nashville-based company. But she said those stores could be refueled at any time.

The problem, according to those who watch the gas industry, is that recent hurricanes — first Gustav and then Ike — delivered a one-two punch to the Gulf of Mexico, the nation’s hotbed for fuel refining. Gulf refineries closed for the storms and then sat idle without power.

Staff Photo by Shane McMillan
Customer Thomas Sines returns to his car Tuesday after buying from the convenience store a Favorite Market on Battlefield Parkway. The Shell gas station had to bag its pumps when it ran out of gas. Stations all over the region are experiencing a shortage in supply that has raised prices and caused shortages in the wake of hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

“The pipelines are not yet back to normal,” said Steve Baker, a spokesman for Colonial Pipeline, the company that operates the primary fuel line from the gulf to Georgia and Tennessee. Gustav, which hit the eastern coast of Louisiana on Sept. 1, caused it problems, Mr. Baker said.

“Since Gustav, we’ve been operating at reduced rates. That’s primarily because the supply was interrupted. The pipeline itself is underground and weathered the hurricanes just fine.”

Hurricane Ike delivered the same interruption on the Texas side of the Gulf Coast when it hit over the weekend, furthering the problem, he said.

The good news, however, is the main Colonial pipeline still is delivering fuel, just not as much as usual, Mr. Baker said. He wouldn’t say at what level the pipeline is operating.

On Tuesday, fuel wholesalers were making deliveries to Chattanooga, but some gas stations weren’t getting the shipments they needed to keep up with demand. Ms. Lovell wouldn’t say exactly how many of the Mapco stations were without fuel, because she said deliveries were being made all the time.

“Just as soon as I give one number, we’ll get a delivery, and it won’t be accurate anymore,” she said. “Just because a station was out of gas this morning doesn’t mean it will be out for good.”

The supply problems could continue for a week or more, said Gregg Laskoski, a spokesman for AAA.

“We could see some relief in the next couple of days, but definitely in a week or two we’ll get more information on the refineries and when they anticipate to return to operation,” Mr. Laskoski said.

In Chattanooga Tuesday, regular unleaded sold for around $3.96 a gallon, AAA reported. Statewide, the average was $4.09 a gallon. Georgia gas sold on average for $4.15 a gallon, while Alabama residents paid around $4.05 a gallon, according to AAA.

Gas prices remained high while crude oil hit its lowest level since February on Tuesday.

In New York, crude oil futures fell below $91 a barrel in morning trading, The Associated Press reported. The drop followed a decline of $5.47 a barrel on Monday, when crude oil closed under the symbolic $100-a-barrel threshold for the first time since March. The price of oil has fallen more than 37 percent since it peaked in early July at $145.29 a barrel.

Users of the Web site www.gasbuddy.com reported two gas stations in Chattanooga selling unleaded for $4.19 a gallon Tuesday. The Birmingham News reported two stations there were selling gas for as much as $4.69 a gallon.

In the wake of rising gas prices, the Tennessee Division of Consumer affairs said it was prepared to investigate allegations of price gouging.

“We are taking this very seriously,” said Leslie Newman, commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Insurance, in a prepared statement. “Under Tennessee law, price gouging is illegal and we will be working with the Attorney General’s office to aggressively pursue anyone who violates that law.”

AAA’s Mr. Laskoski said news from the Gulf region mostly was good so far, and suggested the gas shortages will be short-lived, but until then motorists may have to search for gas. Even those with apparent connections in the gas industry were grappling with the problem.

“I followed a (gas) truck ... to a competitor just so I could fill up,” said Tony McClarty, senior director of administration for Mapco in Nashville. “It’s that bad.”

Comments