Gov. Mark Sanford on Thursday urged the public to remain calm and conserve fuel over the Labor Day weekend as concerns about supply pushed gas prices toward $4 a gallon. Local supply worries increased during the day as some southern Beaufort County stations temporarily ran out of gas.

Paul Sams, manager of the Shell station and Ultimate Car Wash in Plantation Business Park on U.S. 278, said his station ran out of gas around noon Thursday.

"We got so busy around 2 p.m. Wednesday," he said. "It stayed that way until we were out."

Wednesday's price at the Shell station was $3.02 per gallon. Sams said more gas was expected to be delivered Thursday night.

It could be another two weeks before fuel supplies from the Gulf of Mexico return to normal, Sanford said at a news conference Thursday. He described the situation as a "profound dislocation" of the state's oil and gas supply. The governor asked citizens to purchase only the fuel they need and resist the urge to hoard gasoline.

While stopping short of telling people not to travel over the Labor Day weekend, Sanford asked residents to conserve as much fuel as possible until normal supply resumes.

"There's no place like home," he said.

The governors of Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania asked residents to curb discretionary driving and stay home with friends and family this weekend.

Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce officials said visitors planning weekend trips to the area were calling to ask if local gas station had enough fuel to get them home again. Chamber staff surveyed area stations for availability Thursday morning and afternoon and will do so again today, said Charlie Clark, the chamber's director of communications.

A list of area gas stations and fuel availability is posted on the chamber's Web site, she said.

Chamber president Bill Miles said advance weekend reservations point to 91 percent occupancy at island hotels. Cancellations have been minimal, he said, at a rate typical for a holiday weekend.

Around South Carolina, state and county governments cut nonessential work and travel and South Carolina's attorney general warned gas stations against price gouging.

State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum said the school system has enough fuel in reserve to keep buses running at least until the end of next week. The state's 5,000 buses use 65,000 gallons of diesel per day, she said. Supply disruptions mean just 30,000 gallons of diesel per day will be available, less than half the normal consumption rate.

"I'm optimistic that the service disruptions we're experiencing will be cleared up," she said.

Even when fuel supplies resume, the skyrocketing cost of fuel will continue to be a concern, she said. The department budgeted for this fiscal year at $1.80 a gallon, a 34-cent increase over the previous year. If the state's price for diesel stays at its year-to-date average of $1.89, that would mean a $1.1 million deficit for the year.

The Beaufort County School District said it is monitoring the situation and has canceled all field trips scheduled for next week. School officials will meet again today to continue monitoring the situation, spokesman Tom Hudson said.

Pump prices at area gas stations have continued to rise all week. A gallon of regular unleaded jumped from $2.50 Monday to around $3 Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon, prices had climbed to $3.40 at some stations.

Gregory Thompson, 39, of Bluffton had one-half tank of gas when he pulled his Ford Expedition into Enmark on U.S. 278 on Thursday evening. About 12.6 gallons later, Thompson had to shell out $40. The rate: $3.29 per gallon.

"It's just going to keep going up ... it's crazy," he said.

The scramble for gas came after two pipelines that supply South Carolina with fuel were shut down when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast early Monday morning. The state receives about 3 million barrels of oil per day through the pipelines, Sanford said.

Colonial Pipeline Co. and Plantation Pipe Line Co., the companies that operate the equipment, said the system is working at about 30 percent capacity, which could increase to about 50 percent over the weekend.

"I ask that South Carolinians be conservative in how much fuel they use in the next couple of weeks," Sanford said. "One thing we need to guard against is panic buying. It exacerbates the problem."

The state has received waivers from the federal government to help alleviate pain at the pump, including the ease of fuel-emissions standards, authority for the state to tap a winter fuel reserve in North Augusta, and an increase in the hours delivery trucks can spend on the road.

The state's efforts to conserve fuel will include not cutting grass along rights of way until the supply has improved.

The governor also said he is not inclined to declare a state of emergency, which would allow price-gouging laws to take effect. Sky-high prices, he said, were simply a function of the market and probably will fall when pipelines are again at full tilt, but his office is monitoring prices.

Attorney General Henry McMaster said any criminal activity surrounding the current gas shortage will be prosecuted by his office to the fullest extent of the law, but state price-gouging laws go into effect only when the governor declares a state of emergency. In Georgia, an emergency was declared Wednesday after prices hit $6 a gallon in Atlanta.

Beaufort County leaders, too, said the county is conserving gas consumption by limiting nonessential public services.

County administrator Gary Kubic said all routine activity, such as grass cutting, ditch repairs and employee travel, has been stopped temporarily. A review of county gas pumps and conversations with fuel suppliers indicate there is adequate fuel for county operations at the present time, but public safety is a priority, he said.

"We realize we have a responsibility for essential public services, such as ambulances, fire trucks and law-enforcement vehicles," Kubic said, "but in anticipation of potential redistribution of gas supplies due to Katrina's disabling effect on the pipeline to the Upstate, we are taking some preventive measures."