TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Governor Jeb Bush said he hopes to avoid fights breaking out between motorists in South Florida over a shortage of gasoline, reported the Associated Press.
A hurricane warning for Katrina was causing a rush on gas stations in the southeastern part of the state, said the report.
Bush said oil companies have been maintaining a low inventory of gasoline and that's contributing to the shortage. The governor said he thought the problem would be minimized by a new shipment into Port Everglades. He said three ships [image-nocss] carrying 20 million gallons of gasoline arrived there and the Port of Tampa was also receiving tankers.
Bush said the state is encouraging oil companies to send fuel supplies to gas stations located along hurricane storm evacuation routes. But, he said, he will not try to regulate their efforts.
"We start with a situation of very low inventories of the gas companies operating with very low margins in terms of their supply. When you combine that with increases in demand, you're going to have isolated or spotted areas where there would be shortages," Bush said Thursday.
The governor said oil companies have made a concerted effort to bring more gasoline into Florida. He said the state has a larger supply of fuel now compared to last summer during the series of hurricanes.
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