Fort Worth, Texas, Gas Prices Show Little Change
By Dan Piller, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Sep. 27–Gasoline prices were little changed in Fort Worth Monday, but the energy markets suggested that drivers may be paying more for fuel soon because of Hurricane Rita.
Although damage was less than feared, about 30 percent of U.S. domestic crude oil and natural-gas production remained shut down Monday as energy companies assessed the condition of offshore platforms.
Meanwhile, seven of 16 refineries in Rita’s path along the Gulf Coast sustained damage, mostly in Beaumont, Port Arthur and Lake Charles, La.
President Bush and Exxon Mobil separately called on consumers to conserve gasoline.
“We can all pitch in by being better conservers of energy,” Bush said. “People just need to recognize that these storms have caused disruption and that if they’re able to maybe not drive on a trip that’s not essential, that would be helpful.”
Crude oil, which declined in a special electronic trading session Sunday, moved up Monday afternoon, closing at $65.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.63. Gasoline futures rose 4.4 cents to $2.13 per gallon.
Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service told The Associated Press “most areas of the country will see price increases in gasoline this week.”
Prices in Tarrant County crept up about a dime from the $2.69 per gallon average at the middle of last week. On Monday, self-serve unleaded was $2.79 per gallon or lower, and most stations had plenty of gas.
But not the Texaco at the corner of Bellaire Drive and Hulen Street in Fort Worth, where attendant Jesse Ruiz waited for a delivery for pumps adorned with “no gas” signs.
“We ran out on Friday, got a delivery, and then ran out again over the weekend,” Ruiz said. “They said there would be a delivery later today. I hope so.”
Down Hulen at Oakmont Boulevard, the Diamond Shamrock station had unleaded gasoline and was selling it for a relative bargain, $2.69 per gallon. But at noon, the pumps were idle.
“Everybody, and I mean everybody, came in for gas Thursday and Friday when the word was out that we might be short again,” said attendant Anna Ronden as she looked at the idle pumps. “I guess everybody still has the gas in their cars and don’t need it now.”
Gasoline marketers got good news Monday when Explorer Pipeline of Tulsa, which operates the 28-inch line that moves gasoline from near Houston to North Texas, St. Louis and Chicago, said it would reopen the pipeline.
“We won’t be flush with product, but there will be gasoline available,” said Lynton Allred, executive director of the Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, which represents more than 10,000 of the 13,000 gasoline retailers in Texas.
Valero Energy said Saturday that its Port Arthur refinery that will be out for two to four weeks. The seven damaged refineries produce about 10 percent of U.S. refinery capacity.
The longer term impact of Rita on gasoline supplies and prices was unclear Monday. A major concern is the need to refine crude into distillate fuel used for home heating oil primarily in the Northeast, as well as in rural areas beyond the reach of natural-gas pipelines.
Refiners customarily give top priority to fuel-oil production when the peak gasoline demand falls after Labor Day.
Unleaded gasoline prices that topped $3 per gallon appeared to touch off buyer resistance from motorists, as demand fell by 4 percent in each of the first two weeks after Katrina struck.
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