supply and demand and the shortage

[Full Quiver]

You guys have read several posts about the "gas shortage" we are facing in the Nashville area. We have been fed many excuses. More than half the stations have no gas even tonight. I went to about 8 before I found one this morning to fill up the company vehicle. I could only pump $35 worth at a time so I had to do it twice in order to get just 16 gallons. The price was $4.29 per gallon which is the most I have ever paid. The pumps were really slow too.

Anyhow I have seen most places that actually had gas selling it for $3.79-$3.89. That price is really not bad considering that's where it was for quite awhile before the 2 hurricanes.

If we really had a shortage then the prices should go through the roof if the laws of supply and demand actually affect fuel costs. The demand was very high but the costs did not sky rocket. I really expected $5+ a gallon this week.


Now on to the "shortage". I mentioned that I was working at a tank farm and they were full to capacity. The officials kept saying the Colonial pipeline was damaged in hurricane Ike. Here's my argument to that. The pipeline originates in the Houston area. If Ike damaged it then it would be in that vicinity. It then heads towards Atlanta, with many stops in between, and from Atlanta heads north to Nashville and Knoxville.

IF there was damage in Houston then everyone would have been affected by the damage. Instead Nashville was suffering. Knoxville had plenty of gas even. No reports of this type mess in GA or Alabama. Did Ike mysteriously destroy the pipeline between Atlanta and Nashville?
I don't know but the excuses just don't add up.