Friday, November 2, 2012

There's plenty of gasoline in the Northeast -- just not at gas stations.

In parts of New York and New Jersey, drivers face another day of lining up for hours at gas stations struggling to stay supplied. AAA estimates that 60 percent of the stations in New Jersey are shut, with the figure as high as 70 percent on Long Island

Analyst Tom Kloza with the Oil Price Information Service likens the situation to a "stopped up drain." The outages and flooding caused by the superstorm Sandy have disrupted the flow of fuel from refineries to open stations. At the same time, millions of gallons of gasoline are sitting in storage tanks, pipelines and tankers that can't unload their cargoes.

Relief is slowly on the way. Ports and terminals in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania remained open and portions of two key pipelines are expected to re-open today. And Kloza -- who suspects part of the long lines stem from panic-buying -- says any price rise should be short-term.