Print Page

Panic at the pump: Fuel availability expected to improve, but prices high

Motorists gas up at the Gaz-bah Exxon on Chestnut Street at $3.09 per gallon Thursday afternoon. CHRISTOPHER HUFF/T&D

Gasoline shortage concerns in The T&D Region were somewhat lessened Thursday as news spread that fuel supply availability was expected to improve by the start of the long Labor Day holiday weekend.

Of stations surveyed in Orangeburg, only the Dodge's Store was completely out of all brands of gasoline Thursday. It was first day the station has been completely out of gasoline. On Wednesday, the station sold only premium gasoline.

Dodge's Store Manager Walter Bates acknowledged his dry tanks and said he was uncertain when he would be selling gasoline again. He did predict that when gasoline arrives, it would exceed $3.50 a gallon.

Other stations surveyed Thursday were selling all brands of gasoline. Other shortages were, for the most part, sporadic throughout the area.

As a precautionary measure, Orangeburg county and city governments were monitoring the situation closely in line with conservation directives issued by Gov. Mark Sanford Thursday.

Orangeburg County Administrator Bill Clark said the county will monitor the need to conserve gas usage during the next two weeks.

"We will be cooperative with that directive from the governor," he said.

Orangeburg City Administrator John Yow said the city's staff has discussed the possibility of curtailing some city services, such as recycling pickup, though no conservation methods have been implemented.

"We still have an adequate supply that could change over the course of several days," Yow said. "We have talked about other nonessential things that could go a week or so without being done."

Bus transportation for T&D Region schools are projected to remain unchanged as a result of the high prices and sporadic shortages.

State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum said the department had enough fuel reserves to get through the week and next week.

Should fuel supplies run low, the department has the means to shuttle fuel to areas of need, Tenenbaum said.

Gas prices continued to hover at unprecedented levels Thursday, a day after prices spiked 50 cents to 80 cents within a 12-hour period Wednesday.

The least expensive gasoline was sold for $2.899 at the Lil Cricket Valero on U.S. 601 and the Shell at U.S. 301 and Broughton Street. The Sunoco A Plus service station at the U.S. 21 and U.S. 21 Bypass saw a 6-cent price increase within a half-hour's time.

Prices for regular unleaded Thursday were as high as $3.399 a gallon in the city.

When and by how much prices will fall is anybody's guess.

High prices, low tolerance

Dorothy Thompson of Rowesville watched in exasperation as the dollar figures on the Sunoco gas station pump steadily climbed before topping off at $30 to fill up her 1999 Mazda. The previous fill-up was $22.

"The prices are ridiculous," Thompson said. "I don't see how people can go back and forth to work or to school. How can we afford the gas?"

High prices are also joined with sporadic shortages.

"What are people going to do?," she said, referring to her husband, Keith, and his trucking business. "He has three trucks to put gas in. I don't see how he can keep going. I am just going to stay home. I am not planning to go anywhere if it is not necessary."

Terry Winningham of Rowesville, who owns his own trucking business and pulls containers out of the Port of Charleston, said diesel prices are taking about $160 a week out of his check.

"I don't see the reason why the prices should be up," Winningham said. "It does not cost refineries anymore to refine it. It is just greed."

At this point, Winningham said he is working just to pay his bills.

"I think George Bush and his cronies are behind most of this," he said.

North resident Robert Merrick expressed his frustration at the variability of gasoline prices from area to area and raised concerns about possible price gouging.

Merrick said he purchased gasoline in the North area for $3.599 a gallon for regular unleaded Thursday before arriving to Orangeburg and seeing prices at $2.999 a gallon.

"I am not going to North anymore," Merrick said. "It is 60 cents different. I think something is wrong or I must be crazy."

The rising prices have taken a toll on Merrick, who is retired.

"I live on a set income," he said, seeing a positive in this fact in that he does not have to travel to work. Labor Day plans are to spend a quite weekend with his family from Bamberg. "I am not planning to go anywhere except maybe 15 miles to 20 miles."

Chris and Shallen Atkins of Stafford, Va., Thursday were preparing to travel to Orlando and Disney World for the Labor Day weekend with their 2-year-old daughter.

The trip to the amusement park is the first for the couple's little girl and, high prices or not, it is a trip the couple has planned and looked forward to for a long time.

"We have money saved up for the trip, so the cost of gasoline is less important than its availability," Chris Atkins said. "Our biggest concern is needing to refuel along the way in North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia, without being able to find any gasoline."

Fuel pipeline operability

High prices and shortages have all been caused by disruptions in the Colonial and Plantation fuel pipelines, two of the state's main fuel lines, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast early Monday morning.

Both the Colonial Pipeline Co. and the Plantation Pipe Line Co. have said they should be pumping fuel through their lines before this weekend.

The pipelines were just a few impacted by Hurricane Katrina which damaged oil platforms and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. At least nine refineries were shut down because of the storm, affecting nearly 11 percent of the nation's fuel supply.

Bamberg's Brabham Oil Company spokesman Brad McCully said he heard reports by Thursday afternoon that some oil platforms have gone to using generators to pump fuel.

Fuel pumping capacity, however, was still at less than half capacity. He said he was unclear as to the status of the state's two pipelines.

"Nothing seems to be getting up to these terminals," McCully said, adding that he was unsure as to how long the supply shortage would last. "Gas supplies seem to be getting tighter and tighter. Everybody is on allocation."

And, McCully says, he does not see the situation getting better any time soon.

"They can't magically make (fuel) cargo show up here in Charleston," he said, noting that gas shortages at the coast have been less of a problem because of fuel delivery through the ports. "It is Labor Day weekend and people are hoarding gas because they are worried about it. We have already seen a 25-cent rise today."

Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the Virginia-based National Association of Convenience Stores, offered a more positive assessment of the situation.

He noted that the Environmental Protection Agency had signed a waiver allowing fuels to be transported to tight supply markets and the allowance of winter-blended fuel releases. Both of these measures are intended to better the supply situation.

"The pipelines are also starting operations again," Lenard said, explaining that the Colonial was operating at about 30 percent capacity Thursday afternoon. "It is not full capacity, but that is still good news."

State officials, agencies

address gas situation

Beyond the T&D Region, gasoline prices were at $3 a gallon for regular, when it was available, and about 20 cents higher for the more plentiful premium grade. Similar prices were reported across the state.

Governor Mark Sanford and other state officials were discouraging consumers from entering into a panic buying mode or topping off tanks, saying this will further exacerbate the problem.

The state also has asked for federal waivers of regulations involving how long fuel tank drivers can be on the road and how much trucks can weigh to help get more gas into South Carolina.

State agencies have been told to curtail all nonessential travel.

For example, the state transportation department will not be cutting grass along rights of way until the fuel supply has improved. The department also canceled its Labor Day Weekend "Safety Rest Break" originally planned at an Upstate rest area. The agency cited the need to conserve travel to essential use.

With high prices and shortage concerns, the state attorney general Thursday issued a warning that price gouging would be prosecuted.

State law only allows prosecutors to deal with complaints of price gouging during a "state of emergency declared by the governor." The possibility exists that other criminal activity may occur due to the gas shortage.

South Carolina's current price gouging law only takes effect upon the governor's declaration of a state of emergency and only within the area for which the state of emergency has been declared.

The attorney general's office has indicated that it will ask the General Assembly to revisit the state's price gouging statutes to make it easier for law enforcement to investigate complaints of price gouging.

Individuals suspecting illegal activity are asked to report an illegal activity to gasshortage@scattorneygeneral.com