[PeakingAroundtheCorner]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AOL Autos', 'B')ISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - Industry officials say they are mystified by fuel shortages at terminals in the Upper Midwest in recent days, but they expect enough supplies for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Terminals have run out of fuel in West Fargo and Grand Forks in North Dakota; Alexandria, Minn.; and Sioux Falls, S.D. Officials are trying to figure out why. "That's the million-dollar question," said Dawna Leitzke, executive director of the South Dakota Petroleum and Propane Marketers Association.

Dozens of tanker trucks lined up in West Fargo on Wednesday, after a new batch of fuel was delivered. Burl Ingebretsen, a truck driver for Matson Oil Co. of Moorhead, Minn., said he waited in line in West Fargo for 10 hours. By the time it was his turn, Magellan posted a sign saying it was out of regular gas. CONTINUE >>>

[Tyler_JC]

I know how to fix this.

Add another 20 cents to the price of gasoline in North Dakota, then ship gasoline from Minneapolis to Fargo.

Problem solved.

[Iaato]

That's got to be the funniest thing I've read all week, PATC. Are these "officials" living in a cave? That's even better than the Palin nomination. Thanks!

[TheDude]

We already noted this a few days back in North American Fuel Shortage Reports: Post. Seems vaguely wrong, like a US citizen suffering from the plague.

[PrairieMule]

Heads up Doomers, here is a solid slice of doom.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... S/80919020

http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=9041967


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')here have been a few reports of small scuffles and fights breaking out. Many stations have security guards and employees controlling traffic to minimize the problems.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut there are signs that the shortage may soon abate. The state is scheduled to receive 1.42 million barrels of gasoline over the next week, roughly matching its typical demand of 1.44 million barrels, Heidt said.

East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee both primarily receive fuel supplies through spurs of the Colonial pipeline, which carries refined gasoline from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Northeast. Ike damaged and knocked out power to many of those refineries, cutting the amount of gasoline fed into the pipeline.

[?!]

Can't help but notice the downsizing of gas stations in my area. Especially the ones right off busy highways. I always wondered why Texaco just shut down all their gas stations on the east coast U.S. within the last year and only some of those previous gas stations have been bought by other no-name brands like 'Marathon'. Well, I ended up scanning the wiki Texaco page and it says they stripped their brand from about 1,100 stores. This, coming after a merger with Chevron, who also removed their brand from stores. You would think after a merger they would only get bigger. Just doesn't make sense unless, ofcourse, the oil is drying up.

I tried to find some news articles on this but not much is showing up. According to this article, Chevron-Texaco is selling it's final 40 stores in Washington state. If they sell them, they buyers will still operate under the name but they will actually be independently owned. Because of this, Chevron is giving a layoff notice for 308 workers. Like I said, just doesn't make sense to give a huge merged company away like this to independent owners unless there is no more oil to sell. The media says the demand for gas is going down as we convert to ethanol. I don't buy that, at least not to have an effect like all this.

http://www.csnews.com/print-topstory-ch ... 52362.html

[dolanbaker]

It's simpler than that, most of the profits are from non-fuel sales in the shop, as the cost of petrol increases there are fewer "extras" bought and this has an impact on the viability of a particular site.

If customers are only buying fuel and nothing else, then the station will be losing money as there is not enough income to pay staff etc.

[basil_hayden]

It's a function of putting the most storage on the least real estate. Oil companies have learned how expensive environmental investigation and remediation are. Most majors are completely divested and only supply fuel to jobbers who wn the sites.

[pup55]

About five years ago, these companies have made the determination that retail is for the birds.... but behind them have come a couple of developments; Mega-gas station/convenience stores, such as QT and RaceTrac with dozens of pumps, and a bigger selection in their stores, and of course the entry into this business of WalMart, and Kroger and Costco, who use cheap gas as a way to lure customers that otherwise might not bother....

We're still buying the gas somewhere... but the distribution system is always making some adjustments to take advantage of or compensate for some change in the marketplace.... in this case, at least around here, the epicenter of car-addicted suburbia, it's just adapting to the trend of everything moving out toward the sprawl....

[bratticus]

It's funny because Standard Oil became S.O. became ESSO became Exxon because of the Standard Oil vertical market: from oil field to service station and everything in between, all was owned by Standard Oil.

Now to toss out retail, hmm.

[Tanada]

It is rare in this corner between Michigan and Ohio to see a service station at any gas sales location. They have all been replaced by quick oil change shops and tire sales and mounting shops I guess. Twenty odd years ago if I had a hose burst or belt break I could pull into just about half the gas stations around here and get it fixed by the on site mechanic so I could continue my trip. Now you have to drop or tow it in to a formalized repair shop and wait a day or longer for a simple repair.

Sometimes when people talk about the 'good old days' this is the kind of thing they really mean.

[SamInNebraska]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', 'I')t is rare in this corner between Michigan and Ohio to see a service station at any gas sales location. They have all been replaced by quick oil change shops and tire sales and mounting shops I guess. Twenty odd years ago if I had a hose burst or belt break I could pull into just about half the gas stations around here and get it fixed by the on site mechanic so I could continue my trip. Now you have to drop or tow it in to a formalized repair shop and wait a day or longer for a simple repair.

Sometimes when people talk about the 'good old days' this is the kind of thing they really mean.