Gasoline supplies likely to shrink, prices rise

[Paragon]

Gasoline is already well over $2 a gallon at this California gas station.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2004-02-25-gasprices_x.htm

Motorists face gasoline shortages as well as record prices the next few weeks because of the skintight U.S. refining and distribution network.

The vulnerability of that network, combined with low inventories of both gasoline and the crude oil from which it's made, have the government and energy experts increasingly nervous that some places in the USA will run out of gas temporarily. An accident that has disrupted shipping on the Mississippi River and in the Gulf of Mexico could trigger shortages this week.

"It looks like the big bulk terminals in Florida are going to run out in the next few days," Tom Kloza, analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, said Wednesday. Big gasoline suppliers were warning their customers of imminent Florida shortages and reduced allocations, he said. The Coast Guard said it had reopened some of the channel Wednesday, but a backlog of ships remained.

"The U.S. gasoline supply system is not 'just-in-time' delivery; it's 'a-minute-too-late' delivery," Kloza says. The river disruption "underscores how hand-to-mouth the supply system is. ... It's a preview of the kinds of things that can happen in spades" as demand rises in the spring and summer driving season...(more)

[tom_paine]

1. This is no surprise

Now that we are so close to Full-Blown Orwellian Totalitarianism, the Imperial Amerikan Subjects are being defrauded and denuded of cash from all different drections at an alarming rate.

Primarily because the Emperor and his Stooges are 100% behind the fraud and theft (if not LITERALLY "behind it") and all orgainzations devoting to stopping these actions are themselves headed by the very Defrauders and Thieves they were prosecuting not 10 years ago.

Unfortunately, this is only liekly to get worse because there is still quite a gap in quality of life between the Imperial Subjcets of Amerika and their fellows in other Totalitarian Third World Countries.

[EXE619K]

2. Think dammit, think!

There's got to be a way to convert urine into combustible fuel alternative!

[waterman]

3. Ha! Great one!

[beanball]

6. Tax it

"oil can"Chaney and Urine on the brain Bush will tax the piss.

[madrchsod]

4. interesting that a ship

blocking the mississippi river can disrupt a large section of the country. just think if a terrorist organization target the east or west coasts docks? are we prepared? could we prevent a strike?

[waterman]

5. shhhh, don't give our gov.... I mean the terrorists any ideas

[reprobate]

7. Did they even try to prevent 9/11?

Then why would they try to prevent another attack.

[BadGimp]

8. This is the same pre-election squeeze we saw

This is the same pre-election squeeze we saw in the run up to Selection 2000.

Un F&^@(!G Believable!!

These people have no morals and are as evil and corrupt as our worst fears have imageined them to be.

Where is Bush on this???

We are fighting a war to stabilize our energy supplies.

...and ...

Dammit Bill O'Rielly where the hell is the War Dividend you swore we'd see? The Iraq oil would pay for the war and reconstruction and we'd have stable oil supplies...you lying scumbag traitor!

OMFG....I wanna puke.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. Just park a few thousand jets, tanks, aircraft carriers, and the like

.
.
.

Then there'd be lots of gas for everyone

and a heckofalot more PEACE !!

[maxsolomon]

10. a freaking men, brother

grounding the concorde was a good start.

[Baclava]

11. BWAhahahahah....

I just traded in my little car for a big honkin' truck.
...and...I LOVE it!

Now I can look down on all the wimpy little people in their rice-burners. Get outta' my you sissies!.....

[Fovea]

19. But they are not in your way...

Sitting in the driveway out of gas, are they?

[Newkleer]

12. You think you have it bad?

Try living in California! Around this time of year we're always paying exorbitant prices for gas because of our famous "summer-blend" gasoline.

An odd quirk in the environmental rules means lax emission guidelines in the winter and strict rules in the summer. While the oil refineries are "re-tooling" their equipment for the different blend of gas during transition periods we pay higher prices as the supply falls.

Do other states have a similar problem?

To make matters worse this switching between blends has helped the larger companies push out the smaller ones that didn't have the cashflow to handle a biannual switch over. Big Oil certainly didn't need any help doing this. As a result, very few oil companies own most of the oil in the Golden State.

[lazarus]

13. So how come

We don't have gas lines the way we did back in the Carter administration?

[jackstraw45]

14. Because it's all artificial...

It's about greed - pure and simple. From Bush's oil buddies on down to the station owners.

Big oil has never had a better friend in the White House...hell, they've got blanket immunity in Iraq!

[Mari333]

15. Oil wars are killing our soldiers for CEOs and short term profits

People spit on the dead and wounded soldiers , when they buy a large truck or gas guzzling vehicle, pour it into their tank, and dont give a shit.
fucking selfish assholes.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

16. But, daddy, you said the war in Iraq would fix all this?

How come daddy?
How come?

[pinniped]

17. Real life "Road Warrior" being played out.

I think this is chimpy's favorite movie.

[freeforall]

18. Big Deal!

We pay almost $4.00 a gallon when you convert from metric.

This sounds like a bargain.