Has Ike affected the gas availability and price in your area?

Tags: Gas Prices, 2008 Hurricane Season, Hurricane Ike
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I live in Shelby County, AL - it is near Birmingham. Yesterday, we had a strange phenomenon. It was announced on the news that because of Ike, gas prices were going up 50 cents a gallon. Some gas stations were still the $3.50 (which sadly, everyone thought was pretty good). A friend e-mailed us and said the Shelby County Reporter advised that gas stations would be out of gas and prices were soaring to $4.40 per gallon. Sure enough - folks flooded the gas stations and several have closed until they get new shipments. You would have thought the hurricane was coming here the way everyone was acting. My husband said we were just not going to go anywhere until all the fuss was over. We may have to cut back on some of our planned travel if the price stays at $4.40 per gal.

Was it like this in other places in the states?

And I am sure this is a naive question but, why? Why did it go up so dramatically?

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@mismi,

Up 13 cents a liter here, mismi and predicted to go even higher as we're hit by the tail end of Ike. I'm guessing we'll be @ $1.40/liter by the end of the weekend. (That's roughly $5.60/gallon -- and for all you nitpickers out there, feel free to correct my math re: Canadian vs US gallon. It's too early in the morning for me.)

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@mismi,

We went from $3.69 per gallon to over $5 in a matter of a few hours yesterday. Expecting $6 by end of the weekend, if it's not there already. Also have pumps covered at a lot of stations with claims that they are empty, and a 10 gallon maximum. (rationing)

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@Tai Chi,

Tai Chi wrote:

Up 13 cents a liter here, mismi and predicted to go even higher as we're hit by the tail end of Ike. I'm guessing we'll be @ $1.40/liter by the end of the weekend. (That's roughly $5.60/gallon -- and for all you nitpickers out there, feel free to correct my math re: Canadian vs US gallon. It's too early in the morning for me.)

i paid $1.30 yesterday, but as i was paying they raised it to $1.37

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@Tai Chi,

Hey there Tai Chi - I've missed you! Good to see you.
I guess it is everywhere. I wondered. Thanks y'all

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@mismi,

the bear's thread on much the same topic

(if I hadn't seen my dad posting there, I wouldn't have known it was the same topic)

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@ehBeth,

I didn't see it this morning Beth...I looked for one with the Tag search trying not to duplicate...sorry! Thanks for linking.

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@mismi,

(I just went and added some tags to the other thread - in case anyone else is looking - the tags there wouldn't have helped)

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@ehBeth,

thanks Beth. Going to get some more tea Wink

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@mismi,

Isn't that like 61p per litre? Around and about. We're paying about £1.12 per LITRE over here in the UK. That's about $2.01 per litre.

So around $8.04 per gallon. Sorry if my maths is a bit off, I'm working that there are about 4 litres per gallon. (This is obv a bit out - difference between UK and US gallons)

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@ehBeth,

What? Someone besides me did a thread on this topic? I'm outraged.... I'll sue....I'll take a nap.

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@Bi-Polar Bear,

I'm in Ventura, CA. Prices holding steady at $3.89 per. But, of course, that was yesterday.

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@mismi,

mismi wrote:

And I am sure this is a naive question but, why? Why did it go up so dramatically?

The short answer is that (a) the oil drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had to shut down because of Ike and (b) the refineries in Texas, where most of our oil is turned into gasoline, and most of the tankers from other places in the world unload, were shut down due to the hurricane. Some 20% of the daily activity has stopped because of Ike.
Here in VA, the price at the pump went from $3.46 to $3.89 overnight.

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Gas in central VA went from $3.45 to $3.95 in one move. One of big non-brand name stations ran out of gas on Saturday night and is still closed this afternoon.

Meanwhile a barrel of oil fell to $94 today.

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@realjohnboy,

$4.19 for regular up the road. I went the opposite way and found a place that had it for $3.83. Some are still out of gas - mainly the super and mid level octane...They haven't gotten new shipments in yet.

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@mismi,

$3.42 at nearest station to the house yesterday morning. We filled up both cars in case there are shortages later in the week--we both have to have our cars to work--but so far no reports of shortages here in Albuquerque. (We get our gasoline via underground pipeline linking to refineries several hundred miles away.)

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