To: Health Freedom, Codex Issues
Subject: Gas Price Increases In Aftermath of WTC Attack: Protect Yourself: Here is How
From: John Hammell jham@iahf.com
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 15:38:52 -0400
IAHF List: [see the 2 articles re gas price hikes in aftermath of attack on World Trade Center below my comments]
Price gouging on gas in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack has caused some gas station operators to start charging $5.00 per gallon on gas.
See the two articles below, one about gas price gouging, one about truckers fears of diesel fuel price increases----- will we soon be at war in the middle east? Will gas prices be hitting astronomical heights? How long will refineries be shut down for fear of more terrorist attacks?
IAHF has been preaching a gospel of self sufficiency for a long time now, because in today's uncertain world, it really pays to expect the unexpected and to be prepared, for any old thing.
Please read the 2 articles blow......and pass this on to more people. Thank You
- John Hammell, President International Advocates for Health Freedom http://www.iahf.com
Anyone can sign up for the IAHF email list at http://www.iahf.com
http://www.sfgate.com/today/gas_panic.shtml
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Breaking News Sections
(09-11) 16:42 PDT NEW YORK (AP) -- Anxious consumers in various parts of the country lined up for an hour or more to fuel up on gasoline costing as much as $5 a gallon amid fears supplies would be disrupted following Tuesday's terrorist attacks.
As gasoline wholesalers and retailers quickly raised prices, the nation's largest oil companies immediately tried to allay consumers' worries by freezing their prices and pledging to keep distribution steady.
Panic caused by rumors of a pending gasoline shortage sent prices skyrocketing in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Michigan and other states.
The R and L Texaco in Oklahoma City increased the price of unleaded gasoline to $5 a gallon after a supplier told owner Lewis Pfenninger it was unclear when the next shipment would be available and at what price.
At the Sunshine Conoco in Springfield, Mo., gas prices were raised after the attacks by 40 cents a gallon to $1.99 a gallon.
In California, gasoline wholesalers raised prices by as much as 20 cents a gallon on supply fears, although traders said there was no evidence of a shortage.
Exxon Mobil and BP sought to calm energy markets. The companies said supplies would not be hampered -- except around New York City. The companies tried to reassure consumers that there was no need to stockpile gasoline.
"We are asking all of our customers to maintain their normal buying habits," Exxon Mobil spokesman Tom Cirigliano said late Tuesday. "We have ample supplies. We're trying to avoid an artificial shortage."
But as distribution terminals closed down around the country for security reasons and motorists worried there wouldn't be enough fuel, gasoline prices rose almost immediately in parts of the Midwest.
Prices had already been soaring in the Midwest because of distribution bottlenecks that were in effect long before Tuesday's catastrophe.
"It's supply and demand," said Pfenninger, owner of the Texaco station in Oklahoma City where gas sold for $5 a gallon. "My lines were so long."
Pfenninger said he could have sold out his supply at that price, but decided to close early. He said he would reconsider the price hike on Wednesday.
In Tulsa, Brandon Disney waited in his car at the pumps at a QuickTrip store.
"I'm just filling up, so I don't have to fight anybody to get gas if there is a shortage," he said
Added Tulsa Police Sgt. Wayne Allen: "We're having to assign officers to convenience stores to direct traffic and break up fights."
Authorities in Oklahoma were investigating instances of price-gouging, while Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore asked Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to declare a state of emergency, which would allow prosecutors to pursue price-gougers there.
Moore said he had received reports of gas prices doubling to as much as $3.60 a gallon within hours.
Greg Seiter, a spokesman at the AAA Hoosier Motor Club in Indiana, said his office has received reports of prices rising to $3 and $4 a gallon in parts of Indiana -- including Anderson, Bloomington and Indianapolis -- in the wake of the attacks.
"Obviously that's a reaction to the events of this morning. What happened immediately after (the attacks) was the price of crude oil in overseas trading climbed suddenly," Seiter said.
The AAA's national office is urging retailers not to impose large price increases.
Nationwide, the retail price of unleaded gasoline is $1.54 a gallon.
Tom Kloza, director of Oil Price Information Service, a Lakewood, N.J., publisher of oil industry data, said he expects petroleum companies to act with restraint in the face of intense marketplace jitters.
"To be raising prices frenetically in this atmosphere makes the entire situation more difficult," he said. "The last thing the American public needs to think about right now is that they need to be racing out to load up on fuel."
http://www.thetrucker.com/stories/09_01/0911_crash_update.html
Trucks continued to roll in the aftermath of Tuesday morningšs terrorist attacks in New York City and the nationšs capitol, but there were reports of 2- to 42-cent jumps in fuel prices in the Northeast, Southeast and Gulf Coast regions, even as one oil company spokesman said prices had been frozen to avoid that very thing.
Tom Cirigliano, an ExxonMobil spokesman, said his company had frozen all "fuel product" prices Tuesday morning to "avoid artificial buyouts."
But terminals in the South and Gulf Coast region Tuesday were closing and/or allocating products, which is dangerous because fuel companies will be limited as to how much fuel they can buy, said Mark Derks, a spokesman for T-Chek Systems.
Derks also said that Colonial pipelines in Virginia had been shut down in the wake of the terrorists attacks, which are being called the worst acts of aggression against the U.S. since Pearl Harbor.
Cindy Knight, personnel manager for Petro Stopping Centers, said there has been "no word of any interruptions at this point" and that she had not heard of any tanker drivers being told to stop or stay put.
She didn't foresee any disruption in fuel supplies "unless barges are stopped at ports."
However, American Trucking Associations spokesman Mike Russell predicted that the fuel supply situation is going to be disrupted and he said fuel prices already have gone up in some areas.
"The [price] gouging has begun," he said.
Russell also said that other pipelines were considering shutting down after Tuesday.
An estimated 20 million tons of air cargo is moved annually, said Russell. That would mean almost 55,000 tons a day will need to be diverted to other means of transportation, including trucks, as long as air traffic is shut down. No one knows how long that will be.
The Federal Aviation Administration shut down all aircraft takeoffs nationwide Tuesday, an "unprecedented step" in the nation's history, said Reuters news service.
FedEx Corp. issued a statement that said because of the FAA shutdown, "FedEx Express is experiencing service disruption nationwide." It is "too early to speculate on when service may return to normal," the statement said.
The Mexican border was closed for an hour and authorities were checking every vehicle crossing the border, according to Russell.