Having a Volt is actually a double-edged sword for this. On one hand as long as we can get electricity we can charge our cars, but on the other hand if the power goes out we may need to get gas. I think I would have topped my tank off before Harvey made land fall just as part of my disaster preparedness steps.
Gas lines!
DFW is going nuts filling up their tank during lunch. I guess they see a shortage that I don't.
Oh wait. I drive on electrons not noxious fumes. I got a half tank. That'll last a good month!
Oh wait. I drive on electrons not noxious fumes. I got a half tank. That'll last a good month!
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That article mentioned something that hadn't occurred to me - a holiday weekend.
The irony of this type of line is the amount of gas being burned while sitting in line.I just came across this thread and remembered that I'd taken a picture of a gas station line while running an errand the other day. I went back by the same location 2 hours later (about 10:30 AM) and the pump handles all had been bagged.
Hope this displays well. I took it in panoramic mode. The cars on the far left are using the right-turn lane to enter the station from the other street.
View attachment 139562
Since 1979 the US has made changes to how it manages and uses available oil. First, we now have a strategic oil reserve, which didn't exist until after Reagan took office in 1980. Second, the automotive fleet is more efficient than ever, to the extent that in 2016 Americans drove more than any other year on record yet used less gas than the previous high year of 2007 (before the housing bubble burst). Finally, oil refiners now store up to six months worth of unrefined crude. They do this to smooth out short term price variations.While I hope we never have another gas shortage such as US drivers experienced in 1973 and also 1979 using today's technology the long gas lines could be largely eliminated. Imagine being able to submit a request for a reservation at a filling station on your phone, similar to purchasing movie tickets. There would be a limit, say 10 gallons, that you could purchase online. You would then drive to the station, within a 1 hour window, starting at the time of your appointment. You would swipe your phone or enter a pin at the pump and the pump would dispense your fuel purchase. There would be no waiting in a long line of vehicles waiting to be fueled, no need to waste gas waiting in line or driving around looking for a station that had gas.
On the international scene the OPEC nations no longer have a stranglehold on oil. Russia, the US, and Canada all have more reserves and the ability to pump them should OPEC decide to raise prices or withhold oil to try to penalize any given country or region.
Combining all of the above we are unlikely to see another politically generated artificial gas crunch like we did twice in the 1970s.
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