Published Friday, October 03, 2008

Gasoline supply improving

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

The worst of the gas crunch is over, and things appear to be well on the road to recovery.

Increased production from Gulf Coast refineries and relaxed environmental restrictions have led to most gas stations in metro Atlanta having fuel to sell.

Along Bullsboro Drive Friday afternoon, every gas station appeared to have regular unleaded, though supplies of mid-grade and premium gasoline are still very tight.

"The clouds have gone from a dark black to a light gray," said Joe Crain Jr. of Crain Oil Company in Newnan.

"It has gotten a lot better, actually," he said. Some of the company's suppliers are expecting pipeline deliveries over the weekend, he said, and "that should help ease a lot of the problem that we have had."

He's noticed that "there are fewer stations that are out of product, and the ones that are out are out for a shorter time."

That fact alone makes a big difference, "so there is not a mad rush to one place or the other until it is drained dry," Crain said.

At one point on Friday, "98 percent of our stores had some type of product to sell," Crain said. "Some will run out later this afternoon, but we're en route to getting those taken care of."

Some of their suppliers have actually started allowing Crain Oil to take 100 percent of its normal fuel allocation.

Starting next week, "we're hoping to start putting some premium gas back in the tanks," Crain said. Premium and diesel supplies are still tight.

"It's getting better. But it's a tough guess at how close we are to normal," Crain said.

"Every day that goes by, we are certainly that much closer."

Crain said he hopes that by the middle of next week, "we're going to see stores getting full loads, with unleaded, premium, and diesel on the same truck. We haven't done that in a while."

Hopes are that once supplies get back to normal, prices will go down.

Gas in the metro-Atlanta area is nearly 50 cents higher than the national average.

On Friday, the national average price for regular unleaded was $3.576. The Atlanta-area average was $4.003. But for the entire state of Georgia, the average was $3.884.

The only states with higher average prices are Alaska ($4.23) and Hawaii ($4.208).

The state with the cheapest gas on Friday was Oklahoma, with a state average of $3.262.