No Gas Panic Locally — Yet
By Dan Mearns, The Sun, Port Charlotte, Fla.
Sep. 24–As Hurricane Rita neared landfall Friday, area gas prices in general didn’t soar as high as they did before Katrina. But that’s not to say they won’t before the weekend is over.
“I’m sure it will,” DeSoto County resident Carolyn Krotzer said about the prospect of Rita causing a spike in gas prices. “Hardly a doubt about it. The prices being so high is tough. I have a vacation planned, and I’m not sure if we are going to do it with shortages and all.”
People filling up gas cans when prices start to go up “makes the situation worse” in Krotzer’s opinion.
“You should just get what you need. Hoarding it does no one any good,” she said.
The average price for a gallon of regular on the Sun’s weekly Gas Gauge was $2.79 (rounded up from $2.78.9) on Friday, 8 cents less than last week’s average of $2.87. The highest price this week was $2.86, recorded at the Shell station on U.S. 41 in Punta Gorda, while the lowest price was $2.70 at the two Arcadia service stations surveyed.
Prices at the two Englewood stations surveyed jumped from 10 to 14 cents from Thursday to Friday, both settling at $2.80. Single-day price hikes also were noted at the Shell station in Charlotte Harbor (4 cents, to $2.80) and the BP station on Kings Highway near I-75 (10 cents, to $3).
The price at the RaceTrac in Charlotte Harbor rose 3 cents to $2.78 Friday, but the station ran out of regular gas by 3:30 p.m. The Englewood Shell station at 241 Indiana Ave. also ran out of gas around noon on Friday, said store owner Mark Anderson. Anderson said he was expecting another shipment by late Friday afternoon.
So far, Hurricane Rita has caused no delay in his shipments, Anderson said.
“It’s just people’s buying habits,” he said. “We wouldn’t have run out otherwise.”
Port Charlotte resident John Wallace, paying $2.76 while filling up at the Hess gasoline station on Kings Highway in Port Charlotte, believes that gas prices, even if they do rise, are not bad.
“If you have ever been to Europe, this is a joke,” he said. “It’s expensive there, but $3 a gallon is not bad compared to there. We may have to change a few things (in budgets and in everyday life), but we need gas. People still have to go places.
“Last time, everyone was filling up just to top off the tank. And all those (gas) cans. It’s all panic.”
Gov. Jeb Bush seemed to agree Thursday when he urged Floridians to conserve and not “top off every tank that they have.” Florida Power & Light said it is joining with other Florida utilities in asking customers to use energy wisely in the coming days in anticipation of potential damage that may occur to oil and natural gas facilities from Hurricane Rita.
On Friday, the state Department of Environment Protection encouraged Florida residents to use fuel supplies wisely.
“By planning ahead, working together and using supplies wisely, we are ensuring that there is adequate fuel available to prepare for the days ahead,” the department said in a public service announcement.
Sara Devos, chairwoman of the Charlotte County Commission, said she participated in statewide conference calls Friday with state and county officials from around Florida. She said Gov. Bush assured them that the state would be getting a continuous gas supply from Great Britain and Saudi Arabia.
“The main thing is we don’t want people to panic,” Devos said. “It would be nice if Charlotte County could conserve (fuel) as much as possible, but there is no need for folks to worry.”
Venice resident Janet Miller stopped in Port Charlotte Friday to fill up her truck on the way to Fort Myers for business.
“When I left Sarasota, the lines were too long, so I thought I could get it (gasoline) on the way,” she said.
“I’m concerned (about the prices),” she added, “but there is nothing I can do about it. Things could be worse; we still have our home, health and children.”
Gloria Wasko and Kerri Wasko, Port Charlotte residents, filled up Gloria’s car and a gas can Friday.
“I want to make sure I top it off and if gas prices get too high, I can put it (the gas in the can) in the car,” Gloria said. “I know the governor asked us not to top off.”
“Every time a storm or something (comes), it effects prices,” said SUV driver Susan Briggs. “It is a little unfair. I question some of the early increases. There’s no justification in jumping the gun.”
Briggs said she didn’t blame people for topping off their tanks.
“It’s hard paying that much for the average working person,” she said. “It’s a big chunk out of your paycheck.”
AAA reported that regular gas was averaging $2.75 a gallon Friday, while the Florida average was $2.76.
In Georgia, Gov. Sonny Perdue asked the state’s schools to take two “early snow days”‘ and cancel classes Monday and Tuesday to help conserve gasoline. If all of Georgia’s schools close, the governor estimated about 250,000 gallons of diesel fuel would be saved each day by keeping buses off the road.
Crude oil prices, meanwhile, dropped sharply Friday, the second straight day of declines, as traders welcomed news that Hurricane Rita had weakened, suggesting that damage to refinery capacity in the Gulf could be less severe than originally feared.
Light sweet crude for November delivery fell $2.31 to settle at $64.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil dropped nearly 10 cents to $1.95 a gallon, while gasoline fell more than 5 cents to $2.09 a gallon.
Managing Editor Chris Porter, Staff Writer Shelly Janke, Sun Intern Teddi Thosath, and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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