(Hurricane) Harvey throws a wrench into U.S. energy engine

Reuters ^ | August 27, 2017 | Ernest Scheyder and Erwin Seba

[bgill]

IIRC, Bush and Soetoro released the SPR on more than one occasion.

If there isn’t some reporter whining about the SPR once every six months, something is wrong.

[Wuli]

OMG!!! They said the same thing during and after Katrina; how in the world did the oil industry in the Gulf, New Orleans and Houston ever recover then??? Oh, wait; THEY DID!!!

[Roccus]

Back in May, the President suggested selling half of it.

[blueunicorn6]

Gasoline is a hard thing to manage.

There is the science of liquids involved.

A gallon gets bigger or smaller depending on temperature (all you scientists back off, I’m not writing for you).

There is also the problem that you lose some gasoline every time it’s transferred.

On top of science, there’s competition.

You can be a good Boy Scout and buy a shipload of gas, but then the price drops and you’re selling gas at cost or below.

And what other product can you find the price of by just driving around town?

Now, I have been in a lawsuit with Big Oil so I have no love for them, but the local retailers have a hard time making money off gasoline.

[Sacajaweau]

OPEC was playing with its quotas at the time.

[Sacajaweau]

http://betinews.com/?p=4000

[oldtech]

Also,I thought I had read somewhere awhile back that not many refineries were being built in the last several years. If the refineries are mostly in a concentrated area & it’s underwater,isn’t that a recipe for disaster? That’s not complicated to figure out,if this is the case.

[oldtech]

Also,I thought I had read somewhere awhile back that not many refineries were being built in the last several years. If the refineries are mostly in a concentrated area & it’s underwater,isn’t that a recipe for disaster? That’s not complicated to figure out,if this is the case.

[Alberta's Child]

Here in New Jersey, the state passed an anti-gouging law after the hurricanes of 2011 and 2012. Gas station owners were among the main targets for prosecution under that law.

The law comes back and bites the people of New Jersey in the ass whenever we have a disruptive weather event that causes widespread power failures. In the aftermath of these events, gas station owners found that the law doesn't even let them raise their prices enough to cover the additional cost of bringing in generators to operate their facilities, so most gas stations simply stay closed for several days while people can sometimes spend hours on line at the few places that do open.

[Ancesthntr]

“Every natural disaster produces mean little people who will try to gouge their customers.”

---

It doesn’t produce them, it enables them because the opportunity is there to make a buck. It is similar to what I see in Estate Planning practice - when a person is dead, or about to die, the vultures come out, because they feel morally released to do as they will.

I do know what you mean...but the storm isn’t to blame, their parents (who raised them - or not) and they, themselves, are to blame.

[snarkytart]

exactly. they can’t wait for ONE event to rape us.

[Bulwyf]

What a bunch of greedy bastards. Here in Alberta it hasn’t really jumped. We have major supplies of this stuff too, but a lot of it is still refined elsewhere, so you’d think they’d crank it up as well.