Industry officials disagree about when gasoline supplies will return to normal, but they agree the worst is over despite some Chattanooga stations still without fuel Wednesday.

Most of the oil refineries disrupted by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav are back in operation, and an official with the Tennessee Petroleum Council estimates that things should be back to normal by this weekend.

“According to AAA, things are getting back to normal now,” said Mike Williams, the Council’s executive director.

He acknowledged that there are still 2 million barrels a day below the refining capacity, but that should not be the case for long.

However, Pete Sodini, president of the Pantry, which supplies fuel to area Kangaroo stations, believes the area could still face shortages and sporadic gas outages all across the Southeast for several more days.

“Fortunately, they have the pipeline restored,” Mr. Sodini said. “But these types of conditions are going to persist.”

Tom Kloza, an oil analyst with the Oil Pricing Information Service, explained that although the pipeline is back operating, the fuel traveling down the pipe has been slow at first.

While the supplies will gradually increase, Mr. Kloza referred to his blog, www.speakingofoil.com, that claims true normality may not return to the area until November.

“We are not likely to see normal refinery output until about Columbus Day” on Oct.13, he wrote. “In the meantime, companies are importing more gasoline, and refiners in non-Gulf Coast states are raising utilization. But a true return to normal is not in the cards for October.”

Officials said the refinery’s primary focusing is on regular unleaded.

Mr. Sodini said diesel and premium grade fuels are almost non-existent, and because mid-grade gasoline is created by blending premium and regular, it will be hard to come by too.

“You are going to see stations with premium out, and if the premium is tight, the mid-grade will be tight too,” he said.

But he is optimistic that the worst is over.

“We will work our way through this thing,” he said.

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