Over the weekend I noticed that gas in Belmont had dropped to $3.49. Gas at Wal-Mart in Pontotoc (our usual cheap gas stop) had dropped to $3.34. That’s a fair amount cheaper than their pre-Ike prices, so I assumed the post-Ike gas crunch was over. Wrong.
The first hint was that gas in Oxford was still $3.79 at most stations. Then I started hearing talk of gas shortages in other states on talk radio. Apparently that’s the case in Atlanta. (The comments on that article are amusing on several levels.)
It’s strange that the situations are so different within the southeastern US. I’m not sure how to explain it. Refining capacity is still not back up to speed, but you would think that’d cause shortages all over, not just in localized areas.
Oil prices jumped up $16.37 a barrel today, so I expect prices will rise all over.