Hurricane Harvey: Social Media-Driven Panic Leads To Mad Rush For Gasoline In Texas

AUSTIN, TX — Motorists are in the throes of an all-out panic in several Texas cities over a mistaken belief of a gas shortage in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, marked by long lines at the gas pumps and concern expressed on social media.

Earlier, several refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast were forced to shut down operations as a result of flooding. The result of that shutdown has been a delay in delivery of gas to many cities close to Harvey's landfall and in outlying areas as well.

The ensuing panic can only be described as Gaspocalypse resulting in virtual pandemonium in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and other cities. Long lines on Friday attest to the panic, with pictures emerging of some people filling up industrial-sized gas containers, seemingly in preparation for the end of days.

But state officials have assured there is no gas shortage. Long before Harvey, oil and gas analysts have described the current oil glut worldwide in further attesting to its abundance. What is being experienced is a delay in delivery, the mayor of San Antonio explained in a press conference, not a shortage.

Don't tell that to panicked motorists, though, who are scrambling to find gas stations that haven't run out of fuel amid the mad dash to fill up. Some gas stations bone dry after the surge, with hastily made cardboard signs indicating as such.

Related story: Hurricane Harvey: Flood-Induced Oil Refineries Shutdown Could Spike Gas Prices

Unlike Harvey, the crisis is largely man-made: Social media posts alerting to a fictitious shortage spread widely, resulting in something akin to a run of gas—which only exacerbated the problem. Had that panic not set in, gas stations would've been able to service citywide clientele were it not for the mass rush for gas among those believing it was running out.

If there ever were a worse time for mass panic, this would be it. The mad rush for gasoline was heightened further given the upcoming Labor Day holiday as people rushed to fuel up for travel before their neighborhood pumps went dry.

In a Friday afternoon press conference, Gov. Greg Abbott blamed the media for having spread false reports of a perceived gasoline shortage. He then ticked off a number of steps he's taken to ensure ample delivery of the commodity.

"There's plenty of fuel in the United States," Abbott said. "There's plenty of fuel in Texas. So don't worry. We will not run out of gas, and will be be in a normal pattern before you know it."

But to expedite supplies, officials in neighboring Oklahoma and New Mexico have agreed to ship fuel from there to Texas in bolstering supply. Abbott said he also has temporarily waived certain, unspecified trucking regulations to allow for greater speed in fuel delivery. He added that the flow of a pipeline normally delivering fuel from Texas to Oklahoma has been reversed to further augment supply.

"The pipeline of gasoline that had been going from Texas to Oklahoma has been reversed, and is now sending gasoline from Oklahoma to Texas," Abbott said. "We have refineries that are coming back in Corpus Christi and Three Rivers that will soon be supplying greater supplies of gasoline."

In an earlier move, the White House announced the Energy Department had tapped an emergency stockpile of crude oil in response to refinery outages in the Gulf Coast. As a result, 500,000 barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were tapped from the Phillips 66 refinery in Lake Charles, La. for use in Texas. The subterranean oil reserve is the largest in the world, capable of holding 700 million barrels of oil.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said at a recent press conference she had also waived certain regulations to ease fuel transport from 25 surrounding states.

The Texas Railroad Commissioner also sought to ease fears about a perceived shortage: "There's plenty of gasoline," Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton told WFAA. "This will subside. Concerns and even panic over gasoline shortages are leading to a sense that there's a gasoline shortage when in fact, there isn't one."

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg did his best to calm the masses, echoing Sitton's assurance. For good measure, Nirenberg added a clip from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart depicting the run on the Bedford Falls Building and Loan among panicked account holders—likening the current gas panic to that cinematic scenario that actually occurred in real life in the days of the Great Depression as people scrambled to retire their accounts to have cash on hand as the economy collapsed.

"San Antonio, there is no gas shortage," Nirenberg wrote on Facebook. "As the result of delayed refinery operations caused by Hurricane Harvey, some stations have run low on gas. Please purchase gas as you would normally do!"

But by that time, San Antonio was in full panic mode in a faux crisis fueled (no pun intended) by social media. On Friday, long lines at the pump continued to be seen. Calmer motorists aware of the oil glut took to posting pictures of people with visions of a dystopian society devoid of gas, filling up ginormous canisters or multiple gas cans in preparation.

At least one motorist filled up a canister that would normally be used to contain a keg of beer.

James Strickland, who hauls gas to fueling stations across San Antonio, started being followed by motorists seeking gas on Thursday. It was like the proverbial cats following the milk truck.

"As I was heading to my destinations today, I noticed about three to four cars following me," he told Patch. "When I arrived the driver's of those cars came up to me asking when they can start fueling up."

Ironically, the Texas Railroad Commissioner issued a rosy outlook on oil supply and production levels just days before the social-driven gas panic. In his report, he outlined a number of positive points as it relates to supply:

• Production for June 2017 as reported to the Railroad Commission of Texas (Commission) is 75,254,080 barrels of crude oil and 591,408,525 mcf (thousand cubic feet) of total gas from oil and gas wells. These preliminary figures are based on production volumes reported by operators and will be updated as late and corrected production reports are received.
• Production reported to the Commission for June 2016, was: 72,856,376 barrels of crude oil preliminarily, updated to a current figure of 81,526,874 barrels; and 604,263,761 mcf of total gas preliminarily, updated to a current figure of 679,880,812 mcf.
• The Commission reports that from July 2016 to June 2017, total Texas reported production was 995 million barrels of crude oil and 7.8 trillion cubic feet of total gas. Crude oil production reported by the Commission is limited to oil produced from oil leases and does not include condensate, which is reported separately by the Commission.
• Texas preliminary June 2017 crude oil production averaged 2,508,469 barrels daily, compared to the 2,428,546 barrels daily average of June 2016.Texas preliminary June 2017 total gas production averaged 19,713,618 mcf a day, compared to the 20,142,125 mcf daily average of June 2016.Texas production in June 2017 came from 181,062 oil wells and 91,357 gas wells.

Fake crisis or not, the interruption in refineries' production has resulted in a dramatic uptick in gas prices as predicted. State Rep. Drew Springer, a Republican from Muenster, Texas, tweeted a picture at a Fort Worth gas pump where a full, 18.5-gallon tank of gas set him back $125.

The average price of gas per gallon in Texas is currently $2.366, according to Gas Buddy. So there's that. But as far as a gas shortage amid dwindling supplies: No.

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