BISMARCK, N.D. -- Governor John Hoeven contacted EPA Administrator Steven Johnson earlier this week to request a 20-day waiver for Canadian gasoline imports to North Dakota to address a tight supply in the availability of fuel in the state. Fuel supplies in North Dakota have been stretched for much of the summer owing to fires, flooding and increased demand; scheduled refinery shutdowns threaten to exacerbate the shortages over the next few weeks, he said.
Importing Canadian fuel is another measure we can take to help increase the supply of fuel, especially [image-nocss] in the northern tier of the state, Hoeven said. At the same time, we are working with shippers and distributors to press for more supplies statewide in order to prevent or minimize shortages over the [Labor Day] holiday weekend.
Hoeven has also waived hours of service restrictions until September 7 for fuel delivery drivers in the state to help with long waits at distribution points. He has in addition contacted pipeline officials, and asked them to do all they can to increase supplies to the region.
A fire at a Laurel, Mont. refinery, and a flood at a Coffeyville, Kansas, facility have combined with regional refinery shutdowns due to maintenance to create a tight supply of gasoline for an extended period of time. The pipelines that serve the Fargo, Minot and Jamestown, N.D., region have been strained for a majority of the harvest season due to heavier than usual yields and refinery shutdowns.
Some Minot gas stations are running dangerously low on gasoline while at least one is completely out for now, reported The Minot Daily News.
Jason Foss, manager of Simonson's Station Store in Minot, said his supply started getting tighter last Thursday or Friday. He told the newspaper that his supplier started asking him how much gasoline he needed, rather than how much he wanted.
While supplies are tighter, Foss has still gotten enough fuel delivered to meet customer demand, said the report. He doesn't think customers need to be worried about going to the gas station and seeing a sold out sign on the pumps. Foss said the last time he ran completely out of gasoline because there was too much demand was the day after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
He said stations and suppliers simply need to manage the gasoline they do have differently to overcome the current supply problems. This includes planning further ahead when ordering fuel, and looking to fill the tanks when the top half gets low, as opposed to the bottom half. It just means better management, probably on the wholesale end, too, he told the paper, noting that wholesalers wouldn't let him take 10,000 gallons of gasoline if he only really needed 3,000 gallons.
Foss added that customers don't need to panic about finding dry pumps at the station, but they should plan ahead and not wait until the last minute to fill up hoping the price will drop. I don't want to create this false anxiety, he said, but added that if you're a price-sensitive customer, don't look for [gas prices] to go down in the next month.
While Simonson's hasn't run out of gas, other stations in the area are finding their supplies a bit tighter, the report said. R & J's Fuel & Services in Ruthville has run out of gasoline, according to mechanic Dennis Corwin. He wasn't sure when they ran out, and didn't know when more fuel would be delivered.
Joe Mitzel, owner of the Stop & Shop in Minot, said his gasoline supplier told him last Friday that things were starting to tighten up a little, and his supplies are running dangerously low. There isn't any gasoline hardly anyplace in North Dakota, Mitzel told the paper.
He said he got half a load Monday, got nothing Tuesday and was expecting another half load Wednesday. He said if demand is high enough, he could run completely out of gasoline Wednesday night. He said he was asking his supplier for any gasoline he could get, no matter what grade is was or how much it costs. Mitzel said he might only be able to get premium gasoline instead of regular unleaded. If that is the case, he is willing to sell it at regular unleaded prices to keep customers from going to other stations that still have the lower-grade gasoline.
The stuff I get [Wednesday] I might be selling at below cost, Mitzel said.
While his gas supply is currently low, Mitzel said he doesn't think this will be a long-lasting situation. But in the short term, including the Labor Day weekend, he's more or less at the mercy of supply and demand, along with everybody else. I have no idea what they're [gas suppliers] going to do with this holiday coming up, Mitzel said. By [Wednesday tonight], everybody's going to be a little short.
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