We have planned a trip to New England over Labor Day weekend. We live in NC and the trip would take us through Va, Md, Pa, NY, Vt, NH, then over to Bangor and in Maine for a few days. The price of gas rose 50-60 cents in a few hours on Aug 30 to over $3 a gallon, and now there is a "shortage" at this point (several stations have run out). We are undecided about the wisdom of going partly because of price, but more due to availability. Does anyone have any advice?

Prices are increasing hourly; I drove from NYC to Boston today. Paid $2.89 in Rhode Island, but when I went past the same station an hour later, the price had gone up to $2.99 and the place cross the street was $3.13. But no lines and certainly no shortages yet in evidence. In my drives between Washington DC and Boston, I've found the best prices are generally in NJ.

To Anonymous: thank you for your quick response. It's going up here in NC as quickly. Hopefully the next couple of days will bring a leveling off.

I haven't seen any reports of shortages here in NH.

No shortages or rumors of such in Massachusetts that I know of. To be safe, I would recommend that you plan to fill up a little sooner than you normally would - for me that would be at 1/3 rather than 1/4 tank left. Also, I would not plan on lengthy night-time drives where you need to refuel, especially in more rural areas of New England.

Expect shortages. The refineries are in the huricane affected areas, so the oil reserves the Pres. released yesterday will take time to turn to gas.

Several stations in our area completely out of gas yesterday...hope this was just a panic rush and not going to be the norm!

Belle

Math, Governor Easley said last night that two of our gasoline sources were already cut off. I would be very wary of a driving trip because of availability issues.

We also just drove from Maryland to Boston and found too that the best prices were in NJ....however some of the lines were very long. Here in Maryland we are up to $3.59 for regular this morning..but no shortages at the moment.

Our fine Gov. Easley is a moron (& I'm being kind) for instilling the panic in the first place. There appears to be plenty of gas in Charlotte & as of this morning I had heard shipments resuming. The shortage (if one actually exists) appears only to be effecting the SE. I'm still going to the beach this weekend. There will be gas I would guess, but you will certainly pay for it ($3.69/gal. last evening).

I heard today that the refineries are responsible for 8% of our national gas supply... so I agree... the shortages will probably be felt most in the southeast.

I'm sorry... I should have said "the refineries on the gulf coast that have been damaged" are responsible for 8% of the total US volume. So while not good, perhaps not as dire as some think... let's hope.

I heard on the news today that the Gulf supplies 25% of the gasoline--the President is asking people to start conserving.

As I said in anoyher post, is it time to start buying smaller cars as in Europe/
Is it time to shrug off the tree huggers and start drilling for more oil in this country?
Is it time, atleast for a while, to relax emission standards on refineries?

OldSouthernBelle: In what state are you located? According to the news Thursday evening, the Colonial Pipeline is about at 60% capacity, and the other one 25% right now. I agree about the panic created, and when the price rises 30 cents in 3 hours as it did in our community today with no new gas delivered, it's gouging. I talked with AAA & visitor's bureau reps in Vt, NH, and Me on Thursday and the response was the gas was in the $3 range, but no shortage.

I was in Ashland VA afternoon of Sept 1, gas at the Shell was $2.88, down the street at East Coast it was $2.99. The gas stations off I-95 around the Ashland and Doswell exits have no shortages. The local news had info on some stations south of Richmond that had run out 9/1. You should be ok if you go, just don't wait too long to fill up.

This may not be a popular opinion, but if you have a choice of going and using a lot of gas or not going and using none, I vote for your staying home instead. Why add to what is obviously going to become an increasing problem -- gas shortages? I don't think the question should be "will I find gas?" but rather "do I need to use gas?"

Thanks to everyone who helped with information. As to why are we adding to shortages, are we really? Having lived through the "shortages" and gas lines in the early 70's resulting in a price hike that never really came down, we were never convinced a shortage really existed. (I know the facts and figures - but who was supplying them? Hmmm.) Why are we still going? We are both retired, and at this point in pretty good health. This is a trip my husband wants to take so we can see a part of the country we've never been to. Who knows what next year will bring as far as our ability to travel long distances. Since we retired, we rarely go anywhere more than 2 days a week as far as errands, eating out, etc., so we've actually spent a long time conserving, and no we don't have a huge SUV.

Gas "shortage". Diamond "shortage". Both man-made. Why are diamonds so expensive and "rare", if humans have been mining them for decades? Supply/Demand doesn't apply here?

Math48teach: I hope you are in New England right now enjoying the beautiful weather. There's a lot of people who depend on tourism so I'm glad you'll be helping the local economy. My husband and his father are driving out this morning to look at tractors. Pop is over 80 and still supplementing his social security by cutting and selling cordwood. Ayuh, our homes are heated by wood. Well, ours just some of the time since we use oil while we're at work.

dfrostnh: We are heading out Sunday morning and will be in Vermont by Monday, Maine by Tuesday. We're hoping to enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather. It will be a good break from the 85-90 degree humid temps of late. Actually, the weather in NC is cooling down this weekend also. We understand the importance of tourism to the state and local economy. That your husband's father is still cutting wood at 80 is great. I wish him many more years of good health. Hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend.