Note - This happened during Katrina when somebody realized that SC is at the end of one of the bigger pipelines. There's been no panic, and the price hikes have been minimal so far...but it's coming. What was kind of interesting though were the rumors that swept through here Thursday night that Venezuela and the Magic Kingdom had cut off our oil supply. COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The impending landfall of Hurricane Ike has caused issues with the price of gas and limits on the amount you can buy, according to officials.
"Hurricane Ike is projected to hit landfall in Texas Friday or Saturday and in anticipation of its storm path, refineries in the Gulf of Mexico have closed," said David E. Parsons, CEO and President of AAA Carolinas.
Michael Fields with the South Carolina Petroleum Marketers Association says gas prices have risen throughout the day and will continue to do so on the wholesale and retail level. "Gas prices have gone up and some stations have placed a restriction on the number of gallons customers can buy because it is unclear right now how long the refineries will remain closed or if they will sustain any damage," Parsons said.
Fields has also heard of several stations in the state such as the Pee Dee, the Lowcountry and the Upstate that are rationing gas out to customers.
In Sumter, all Kangaroo gas stations are imposing at 10 gallon limit. At the Kangaroo on Broad Street, they have put up a sign asking customers to limit their gas purchases. An attendant at the station says they aren't enforcing the limit at the moment, but may have to Friday and over the weekend.
Fields adds that all this is a preemptive move with Ike because of what happened with Hurricane Katrina. He calls the current situation "volatile" and says there is a concern about how much fuel will be available after Ike hits. "The worst thing that could happen would be for motorists to flock to gas stations to top off their tanks," said Parsons. "That will worsen the situation before anyone knows what the damage will be. We encourage people not to panic, drive conservatively and don't take unnecessary trips until the damage assessment is completed early next week."
Parsons says this gas spike comes on the heels of the closing of some refineries in the past few days based on the expected path of Hurricane Gustav, which did not cause any major damage and the refineries reopened and put more oil into the pipeline.
Parsons said most refineries made significant changes to their oil rigs after Hurricane Katrina three years ago and these upgrades are designed to protect against hurricanes.