Get Ready for high gasoline prices and shortages

[dan_s]

East Coast May Face Fuel Shortages After Storm Disrupts Major Pipeline. Wall Street Journal.

Flooding in Texas has spawned local fuel shortages from Austin to Dallas and disrupted the flow of petroleum on a major pipeline that moves gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to the East Coast.

The Colonial Pipeline said its system, which runs from Texas to New Jersey, is starting to have problems stemming from Tropical Storm Harvey. The notice from the company adds to concern that Houston’s hard-hit energy infrastructure could result in higher fuel prices or shortages in other parts of the country. Gasoline supplies in Dallas and San Antonio have been significantly reduced, and fuel supply is becoming more limited in Austin as well as areas as far away as Atlanta, according to Mansfield Oil, a nationwide fuel wholesaler based in Gainesville, Ga. Service at Colonial Pipeline’s fuel loading and pumping stations in Houston, Pasadena and Cedar Bayou, Texas, have been interrupted.

This is going to get worse.