New York gas shortages

Gas Shortages, Long Lines Adding to Storm's Misery

Gasoline futures jumped as cranky consumers on the East Coast—already stressed by the wrath of Superstorm Sandy—joined long lines at the pump to fill up their cars and gas cans to fuel home generators, causing shortages in some areas.

CNBC,

31 October, 2012

Though retail gasoline prices were steady or dropping at the pump through Tuesday, they could start to spike in hard-hit areas of the storm, particularly the New York metropolitan region. 

 

Shortages were already affecting all types of stations. In New Hyde Park on Long Island, N.Y., CNBC found several stations already out of fuel, while two others in the center of town were dealing with huge lines and thin patience. 
 
As more drivers emerged from storm damaged residential areas, lengthy lines with hours long waits formed around the region at gas stations that still had fuel and power.

“The price spike will last several days, probably as long as a week, and then it will depend on whether or not some of the key facilities get back on line, like the ports and the Colonial Pipeline,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital. “The ports are open but there are severe restrictions on navigation.”


Shell [RDS.A  68.48    0.67  (+0.99%)   ], which has many services in the storm hit zones, advised consumers to conserve fuel and avoid unnecessary driving while Shell-branded stations are being reopened and restocked. BP[BP  42.89    1.16  (+2.78%)   ] said one third of its branded gasoline stations in the New York, New Jersey area were shut due to flooding, lack of power, or no fuel.

“You have a lot of stations that are closed, and they’re closed due to no power or no product or both,” said Kevin Beyer, president of the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association. He said less than half the more than 600 gas stations his organization represents between Brooklyn and Montauk, N.Y. have both gasoline and power. 

 

But the stations with power are running short of supply, and he does not foresee many deliveries before Friday or in the region because of flooding and damage to terminals in Inwood, Holtsville, and Lawrence. CNBC watched a delivery Wednesday afternoon to a Shell station in New Hyde Park from a tanker truck filled at the Holtsville terminal.

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