15 Texas refineries have shut down or reduced capacity, but Sitton says there is not a U.S. gas shortage…
People are racing to get to the pumps in Devine, Castroville, Lytle and Natalia, and many stations are out of gas due to increased number of people buying gas, “and trying to get their hands on every gallon they can.” Every pump was full as people waited in line at 3:30 in Devine. However, Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton has spoken out, assuring Texans that there isn’t a gas shortage in the US….
“There is not a gasoline shortage in the United States. There is a logistics issue,” he said. “In the US today, there 230 million barrels of gasoline in inventory…in storage.”
The 15 refineries that are either down or at reduced capacity, has reduced the amount of gasoline production by only 2 million barrels of gasoline a day, according to Commissioner Sitton.
“The big issue is people trying to get their hands on every gallon they can…..Even if all the refineries were running right now, we’d still be having this issue,” due to the rush of people buying gas.”
“In my neighborhood 1/3 of the houses were flooded and it was hard to get out. There might be some gas stations down there that trucks can’t get to to refuel, so there might be pockets where there are gasoline shortages,” Sitton said. “Your neighborhood gas station may take a few days because they happen to be part of a supply network that’s really over-stripped…..but if I’m willing to drive 3 or 4 miles I can find some gasoline…..As a region, there may be pockets that take a few days, but this is not going to be a long term issue.”
“Every gas station in Texas is refilled by a truck on regular intervals…. For example, if a gas station usually gets 100,000 gallons every 10 days, then that’s the schedule they are on….So, if ten times as many people go to a gas station today, then the next scheduled truck would have been in ten days.”
Continue reading “Devine running out of gas due to panic– no shortage of gas in US, Sitton says”
