Yeah, it's really strange that Georgia is experiencing those shortages. And, Charlotte, NC and Nashville, TN, etc. It couldn't be that it has anything to do with the fact that we are in a political year. Just because McCain is running on the "Drill, Drill, Drill" ticket, would the oil companies be so crass as to add a bit of emphasis to the message? I mean, Mr. Obama has even stopped campaigning in Georgia, all but admitting that Georgia is so Red that he likely would have no chance there.

The funny thing is that there's gas in my county at the northwestern corner of NC. I filled up last evening, being the only car in the station and It cost me $3.86 a gallon, while the price near to town was $3.99. And, I spoke with a friend last evening who had just returned from a trip to Florida, driving up I-95 then thru Charlotte. Apparently, people have stayed home and thus the shortage may be localized to some degree. Still, the fun will begin again tomorrow as people start to head in for work.

E. Swanson

Someone please correct me, but if the price were allowed to rise to the clearing price, wouldn't it then be high enough to induce tankers to haul the gas from areas where gas is plentiful?

What has been missed on this thread is the statement by Red Cavaney about the shutting down of credit. Out here in the Permian Basin, a lot of oilfield service companies are on a cash only basis with their fuel supplier. Some of these companies have $100K week fuel bills. The largest expense is labor. These companies payroll comes due every week. These companies churn a lot of money. But the oil companies keep them 60-90 days behind so they have to borrow against their lines of credit for weekly payroll.
Same for the fuel distributors. They buy from Alon or Navajo and if they cannot get the credit from their bank, then it is cash up front. What Red Cavaney is worried about is these companies not being able to get credit and meet their payroll.
THe oil producers are completly dependent on contractors to provide almost all the services to the industry. IF the contractors cannot meet payroll, no one shows up to work and the oil business slowly grinds to a halt. The refinery's are not set up to extend credit to the retail gas stations, so the gas station cannot buy fuel as they do not have the $42K credit for a tanker load of gasoline.
The supply of feedstock starts drying up and the refiners cannot sell to their distributers because the retail distributer cannot buy the refined product.
Not exactly peak oil. A lot more scary because this may not happen slowly, it could happen before the end of October.