Gas shortages expected for next six to eight weeks
By WHITNEY PANDIL-EATON, Staff Writer, wpandileaton@minotdailynews.comArticle Photos
North Dakotans can expect to experience gas shortages for the next six to eight weeks, said Mike Rud, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association.
Just why, he can't say.
"We get stonewalled. Everytime we ask (suppliers) a question it's, 'that's proprietary information.' We need them as a distribution chain, but this doesn't help relations it draws lines in the sand." Rud said. "It's frustrating. Petroleum marketers feel like a mushroom you are kept in the dark and you only get what they feed you."
Rud said that there were 110 loads, roughly 1.1 million gallons of unleaded gas, available to carriers Wednesday morning at the Fargo terminal. By Thursday morning, only 40 loads were available.
"There were 75 truckers waiting as long as 10 hours to fill up, but some of them left empty-handed. Where does the problem lie if not with refineries?" Rud said.
Leif Peterson, who works at the Tesoro Mandan Refinery, said the problem doesn't lie with them.
"We are operating at near capacity and we continue to meet our contractual obligations." He continued, "We can't supply the entire region when someone else is out. We are running as fast as we can."
The Tesoro Mandan Refinery, which has a crude oil capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, transports 85 percent of its product through NuStar Energy's North Pipeline, which runs from Mandan to Roseville, Minn., near the Twin Cities. According to the NuStar Energy Web site, "the North Pipeline transported approximately 16.8 million barrels in 2007."
"We have terminals in Jamestown, Moorhead, Sauk Center, and Roseville, (Minn.) At each terminal our product is unloaded in storage tanks and then diverted we serve along the entire proximity of the pipeline," Peterson said.
The North Pipeline connects with a second pipeline, known as the East Pipeline, near Jamestown. The East Pipeline covers 1,900 miles and moves products from Kansas north to Jamestown. In 2007, the East Pipeline transported 56.5 million barrels and combined, the North and East Pipelines include 21 truck-loading terminals, according to the company Web site.
"Minot has been able to hang on with a limited supply," Rud said, "but when the East runs out, people go to the West to get it."
He said there is suppose to be 80 loads 800,000 gallons of gas arriving in Fargo on Sunday from the Flint Hills Refinery, located in Rosemount, Minn., via Magellan Midstream Partners LP, a refined petroleum pipeline and terminal storage company that operates throughout the Midwest, from Texas to North Dakota. The load expected on Sunday will travel from Minneapolis to Fargo with a stop at the Alexandria, Minn., terminal on the Magellan Pipeline.
Bruce Heine, director of government and media affairs for Magellan Midstream Partners, said that the company unloaded gas, designed for ethanol blending, at the Fargo terminal Friday, but would not release volume information.
"Our ability to supply the terminals is dependant upon the numerous refineries connected to our pipeline," Heine said. "Our system is designed to maximize product available to distribute to local suppliers and we provide as much product to the terminals as possible to avoid locking it in the system."
Heine said they attempt to supply as many terminals as they can, but that when supply does not meet demand, Magellan works in conjunction with the refineries to determine which terminals will be serviced. He declined to speculate on the cause of the shortage.
As of Friday, Grand Forks still was without regular unleaded gas.
"Last year we knew weeks in advance what we would face in September, but this year we had very little notice. If we had gotten more notice, people might have built up their inventory to stave off what might be coming," Rud said. "As any North Dakotan knows, if there is a three-day blizzard coming, you stockpile inventory."
Other issues are compounding the gas shortage problem. Rud said one issue is that if a truck driver has to travel farther to get the product, there will be an increase in premiums, resulting in higher gas prices.
Harvest season is also a major concern with the increased diesel demand. Rud said diesel supplies are not short now but that he is wary of the future.
"We are still in peak driving season and when you combine that with the harvest season and the fact that refineries are starting to make the switch to a winter formula, all of it takes a toll," Rud said. "We are keeping close track, especially with Labor Day approaching, but we are at the mercy of the refiners and suppliers."
