As if the oil crisis wasn’t causing enough problems, a recent rash of hurricanes in the Gulf has temporarily disabled and number of American oil refineries, leading to empty gas stations and rising prices, reminding may of the oil crisis of the 1960s.
Town all along the East Coast are also feeling the hit, including Asheville, Charlotte, and Raleigh, North Carolina as well as Athens, Georgia. In each town, independent gas stations are being caused to close down due to the sudden decrease in oil supplies, while oil producers instead favor chain stations. This puts smaller stations on the brink, which rely on gasoline to bring in other business, such as food and snack purchases.
But even chain stations are finding problems with the limited availability, for while their gasoline purchase rates are on the rise, crowded parking lots also discourage inside purchases, where much of a station makes it’s money.
But the more immediate hit is to the customers. In places where gasoline is a necessity for getting to work or buying food, the crisis can cause hour-long lines with only the hope that fuel will still be available. This is not the first time America has felt the economic need for gasoline, but with a looming economic crisis, the pinch is all the more poignant.
With barely enough supplies to get to and from work, people are cutting down significantly on end-of-season vacations or extraneous activates outside the home.
The reason for the crisis appears to be oil refineries rather than the oil drills themselves. As a storm precaution, 14 Gulf Coast refineries shut down. Two are preparing to return in the next few days, but the fact remains that about 20% of the nation’s petrol refineries are still offline, causing the nation’s otherwise dropping oil costs to neglect the Southeast, once again pushing prices past the $4.00 mark.
But there is optimism among those in the industry, citing the eventual end of the hurricane season. But perhaps this optimism is still hiding the truth behind oil reliance; it is a tenuous and toxic resource, and with the constant ups and down of the market, one can only hope consumers, and upcoming voters, become more serious about alternative energy sources.
