Story by Rye Druzin, Business Reporter, San Antonio Express News

Four days after a post-hurricane panic sent drivers to drain gasoline stations over the Labor Day weekend, the end of waiting in lines behind hoarders may be in sight.

According to gas price tracker GasBuddy.com, the number of empty stations in San Antonio decreased Monday.

Only 376 gas stations were reported without fuel as of 4 p.m. Monday, according to GasBuddy’s gasoline availability tracker, which is updated by consumers and subject to some inaccuracies. That would mean nearly 60 percent of San Antonio’s roughly 630 gas stations remain without fuel, down from a peak of 575 gas stations, or 91 percent, that were reportedly without fuel Saturday night.

In light of the shortages, VIA Metropolitan Transit announced Monday that transportation services Tuesday would be complimentary.

Fares will be waived for the day on VIA’s fixed-route bus service, Park & Ride Service, and scheduled VIAtrans trips, the agency said in a press release Monday. Fares for registered VIAtrans customers using its Taxi Subsidy Service also will be paid by VIA.

“As residents continue to help us manage this situation by being conscientious neighbors, I am grateful to VIA for doing what they can to provide additional transportation solutions,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement released Monday afternoon.

Average gas prices in San Antonio spiked to nearly $2.55 a gallon Monday, up from around $2.29 Thursday, when widespread shortages were first reported in San Antonio, according to GasBuddy.

The U.S. average price per gallon also jumped from $2.51 on Thursday to nearly $2.64 on Monday.

San Antonio-based refiner Valero Energy Corp. announced Monday afternoon that its two Corpus Christi refineries, which shut down before Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25, were back to pre-hurricane production levels. Spokeswoman Lillian Riojas said that the refineries provide fuel supplies to the region from Austin through South Texas.The U.S. average price per gallon also jumped from $2.51 on Thursday to nearly $2.64 on Monday.

A smaller Valero refinery in Three Rivers, which also serves the region from Austin to South Texas, continued its post-hurricane restart Monday.

Harvey disrupted supplies across Texas, taking more than a fifth of U.S. refining production offline. Fuel shortages in Texas have been reported from the Rio Grande Valley up to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Since Thursday, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg has used both official channels and Facebook to address fuel supply issues. On Sunday evening, Nirenberg put out another message on his Facebook page, saying he’s asked for more regular updates from state regulatory authorities but that fuel demand in San Antonio remained high.

“Demand has not decreased, with our city consuming more fuel than average largely due to panic and hoarding,” Nirenberg said in his post. “I am listening and as much as I would like to impose restrictions, which we have urged retailers to observe, that authority lies within the state government, not local municipalities.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that gasoline is being shipped in from the neighboring states of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana to make up for any supply disruptions.

“We will not run out and we will be back into our normal pattern before you know it,” Abbott said.

Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, said in a statement that Harvey had been a “historic disruption to our state’s fuel production and distribution system” but urged calm.

Hoarding has taken place in many forms, with residents posting photos on social media of people filling up large containers mounted on the flat beds of pickups to 55-gallon drums and even trash cans.“Every single Texan can help themselves and their neighbors during this period of recovery by not overbuying fuel. All of us can play a role as we conserve, restore and rebuild,” Staples said.

Some on social media blamed media reports for creating a run on gas and thus the shortages, while others blamed unnecessary panic and greed for the lack of fuel.

Jesus Azanza, spokesman for the Texas Food and Fuel Association, which represents convenience stores, said that despite the U.S. being awash in domestically produced crude oil, it doesn’t have a glut of gasoline. He said the Valero refineries coming back online will help with their branded gas stations getting the fuel they need. But no regulations exist to limit hoarding.

“There isn’t a law in place limiting the amount of fuel a gas station owner can sell to an individual consumer. That decision is up to the individual gas station owner and their software capabilities,” said Azana.

The rush for gasoline has caused another shortage of sorts.

Sid Lipscomb, the store manager of Napa Auto Parts on North Alamo Street, said the company’s local distribution center has sold nearly 2,000 jugs, a tripling of normal sales, since Friday.

“On social media the sky is falling,” Lipscomb said, and that’s why he thinks people are buying more jugs than normal.

At a Northwest Side AutoZone, commercial manager Thomas Gerald said as soon as a new shipment comes in “they come in and buy them.”

“One customer came in and bought all six,” he said, adding that the store’s supply of gas cans are snatched up almost as soon as they come in.

@druz_journo
rdruzin@express-news.net