OAK BROOK, Ill. -- It will be months and even years before things get back to normalif everfollowing the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. But with the fortitude of the true American spirit, a few things started to move toward normalcy last week as shutdown pipelines started pumping oil again and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) found a way to soldier forward with one of the highlights of the year for convenience retailers, The NACS Show 2005.
On Friday morning, NACS announced it had found a new location for The NACS Show following [image-nocss] the natural disaster in its original location, New Orleans. Now to be held Tuesday through Friday, November 15-18, in Las Vegas, this year's convention and exposition will not only allow vendors to get in front of their customers and display their new products, marketing and innovations, but also let retailers rub shoulders with one another while learning how to do their jobs better. And as the nation heals from the tragedy it has seen during the past week, sometimes the support of old (and new) friends can go a long way.
In its announcement of the new location in the Las Vegas Convention Center, NACS officials stated, The decision to relocate the event was made after an intensive examination of resources to determine not only if a NACS Show could be held, but held with the same high standards that is expected of NACS. We are confident that this will be accomplished.
Out of necessity, there will be some changes made, NACS noted. NACS will not conduct store tours, tours of local attractions or the post-show store tour designed for international attendees.
The show originally was scheduled for October 29-November 1. For an updated schedule for the NACS Show 2005 in Las Vegas and answers to frequently asked questions, NACS is delivering updates via e-mail and on its websites, www.nacsonline.com and www.nacsshow.com, in the coming days.
Meanwhile, late Thursday, it appeared the pipelines that were shutdown by Hurricane Katrina were slowly going back online, according to several sources. Dan Gilligan, president of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA), said the Colonial Pipeline was back up to 35% capacity Thursday afternoon, with additional capacity expected shortly.
There was no word Friday, however, on how long it would be before refineries would be operational, according to PMAA. Electricity must be restored to the devastated area before assessment and repairs can begin. In addition to the needed repairs to the refineries, the lack of personnelmany of whom are now homeless and have been evacuated from the areais certain to be a major problem. The affected refineries account for at least 10% of U.S. refining capacity.
Meanwhile, marketer associations and oil companies continue to lobby for the easing of restrictions to prevent further gasoline outages. The latest achievement was approval Friday by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to not impose a tax penalty when dyed diesel fuel is sold for use or used on the highway. The approval backs an earlier OK by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the use of such fuel. The IRS relief will remain in affect through September 15.
UPDATE: Marathon said on Saturday that efforts continued to resume refining operations at its 245,000 barrel per day Garyville, La., refinery. Baring any unforeseen problems, expectations are that all seven Marathon refineries will be operating at capacity on Monday. Marathon's refining capacity is 948,000 bpd. Marathon Pipe Line LLC operations are returning to normal, parallel with the refinery.
Also, Marathon said it has received approval for a loan of 1.5 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This oil will assist in providing crude oil supply to the company's Midwest refineries.
Assessment and repair teams have reboarded all Marathon-operated production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Repairs on the least-damaged were expected to be completed late over the weekend orearlyin theweek.
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