Florida fuel outages grow as residents evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton By Reuters

By Shariq Khan

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nearly a quarter of Florida’s gas stations ran out of gas on Wednesday morning as residents rushed to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton’s landfall, potentially one of the most destructive to ever hit the Gulf Coast the state.

More than a million people in coastal areas of Florida were under evacuation orders, clogging highways and causing fuel shortages from Tampa to Orlando, in a region still dealing with the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene less than two days ago. weeks ago. Milton is expected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay metro area Wednesday evening.

About 24 percent of Florida’s nearly 8,000 gas pumps were out of fuel as of noon Eastern Wednesday, up from more than 17 percent the previous evening, according to market tracker GasBuddy.

Florida is the third largest consumer of gasoline in the United States, but there are no refineries in the state, making it dependent on transportation from elsewhere by land or water.

Milton’s severity and forecast path across Tampa Bay, where much of the state’s fuel import and storage terminals are located, make it the most devastating hit to Florida’s fuel markets since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the analyst said Tuesday oil OPIS Tom Kloza.

Significant damage to Florida’s Gulf Coast ports or fuel terminals could severely disrupt resupply efforts after the storm passes.

A prolonged shutdown of the Port of Tampa Bay, which was closed to all vessel traffic on Tuesday, could severely disrupt fuel supplies in west and central Florida, said Ben Ruddell, director of the FEWSION Project, which monitors domestic supply chains.

More than 17 million tons of oil and natural gas-related products move through Tampa Bay in a typical year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE: Chevron Corp (NYSE: ), CITGO Petroleum and Buckeye Partners were among the energy companies that closed terminals in Tampa to protect against damage.

Kinder Morgan also shut down its Central Florida pipeline system, two small pipelines that carry gasoline, ethanol, diesel and jet fuel from Tampa to Orlando.

Fuel wholesaler Mansfield has moved Tampa and Orlando to its Code Blue classification, effectively suspending all fuel deliveries due to worsening conditions that make roads impassable for trucks. Mansfield keeps other Florida markets on Code Red, requiring 72 hours notice to make fuel deliveries, it said.