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Gas still runs short in N.C.
Deliveries help, but don't offset pent-up demand
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AP AUDIO SLIDESHOW
» GAS SHORTAGES: Fuel shortages in several Southern states provoke anger, changes in buying habits
Published: September 30, 2008
North Carolina has received some gas deliveries, but they weren't enough to resupply many gas-starved stations throughout the state. Spotty shortages remained yesterday in some areas as many stations had only regular gas to sell to their customers.
Carol Gifford, a spokeswoman for AAA Carolinas in Charlotte, said that gas deliveries have helped improve the situation.
"We are getting gas by the day," Gifford said. "Retailers are getting less than their full allocation.
When they get deliveries, it is sold out within a few hours because there is such a pent-up demand."
Gifford said that shortages persist in Boone, Hendersonville and Sylva.
"We are not sure how panic buying is figuring into this," Gifford said.
Officials have urged drivers not to top off their tanks to avoid panic buying, but some drivers said they feel they have a reason to be worried.
Drivers paid an average of $3.89 a gallon Monday in North Carolina and $3.80 in South Carolina.
Three stations in Boone -- Pantry convenience store on Blowing Rock Road, Zippi's Amoco Food Mart on N.C. 105 and the Kangaroo Express on West King Street -- have enough gas for their customers, employees said.
But they were unsure how long the supply would last. In Charlotte, drivers were again confronted by closed gas stations and lines where fuel is available.
Tom Crosby, a spokesman for AAA Carolinas, said that a shipment that came Friday "was well short of solving the shortage," The Charlotte Observer reported. Gasoline moves from the Gulf region at a rate of 100 to 120 miles a day.
"It's going to take time," he said.
Colonial Pipeline Co. announced yesterday that it has returned to normal capacity levels for gasoline deliveries, which were disrupted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The company supplies much of the gas to North Carolina.
It will take up two weeks before Gulf Coast refineries, which were damaged by the storms, return to full production, said Healy Bumgardner, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington.
Keith Deberry, an employee at the Four Brothers Food Store on West Fifth Street in Winston-Salem, said that his station only had unleaded regular gas available.
"They are the only ones without a bag over it," Deberry said.
The Kangaroo Express convenience store on South Stratford Road ran out of gas last week, said Marshall, a store employee. The store took the gas prices down from its sign. Other stations in the city also ran out of gas.
The customers "were not truly shocked because they kind of expected it," Marshall said.
Exprezit Convenience Store on Old Walkertown Road in Winston-Salem also only had unleaded regular yesterday after it ran out of gas last Tuesday, said Brandi Jackson, a store employee.
The store's customers are not pleased about the station's limited supply. Jackson said that store's employees "have no idea" when they will receive their next gas delivery.
■ John Hinton can be reached at 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com.
■ The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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