SHORTAGES, PRICE HIKES AT THE PUMP

TEXANS WHO weren’t directly hit by Harvey are still feeling the effects of the massive storm as fears of a gasoline shortage spread across the state. Drivers lined up for hours on Thursday at gas stations in the Dallas area, more than 250 miles from where Harvey came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane six days ago, for the chance to fill their tanks. Several stations ran out of fuel as prices at the pump jumped. Fears of a fuel shortage spread after flooding affected about a quarter of the oil refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast. Nearly one-third of the nation’s refining capacity is located between Corpus Christi, Tex., and Lake Charles, La., where Harvey dropped gallons of rain for days. A major gas pipeline from Houston is expected to the be operational by Sunday. Officials and analysts called for calm, claiming that panic at the pump was the real problem. Too many people looking to fill up creates a ripple effect in demand as “people try to get their hands on every gallon they can,” said Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton. Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, agreed, adding that motorists are literally in the driver’s seat of the scare. “On how long and how bad it gets really depends on how far motorists let this go,” DeHaan told the Dallas Morning News. “If there can’t be cooler heads, then motorists make the situation much worse.” A similar scare hit New York following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Nationwide, pump prices have surged in Harvey’s wake — the average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose from about $2.35 a week ago to $2.45, AAA reported. The Texas attorney general’s office warned of price gouging in the Lone Star State and called on drivers to report prices higher than $4 per gallon