The first of the long predicted gasoline shortages finally hit home this past summer. In most of the country, it was mild and shortlived. But Colorado and Oregon were badly hit. Worst shortage in the nation was in the Denver area, where 1200 motorists were stranded one July Sunday. "Daily quota" were sold out by 9.30 a.m.; no gas on Sundays; long lines of motorists waiting their turn at the pumps sometimes for as long as 45 minutes. The crunch lasted all of July and the better part of August.

The gasoline shortage was not an oil shortage, but a refinery shortage, as long foreseen by several observers. Government overregulation has made refineries only marginally profitable, and the environmental gurus have screamed rape and murder whenever one was to be built. Where refinery or pipeline capacities were insufficient (Colorado, Oregon), the oil companies were reluctant to absorb the additional trucking costs under the price freeze. Where "independents" had sold surplus gas, there was no surplus to sell.

Environmentalists and the societally relevant crowd made oil companies the scapegoat. The Federal Trade Commission quickly obliged and filed a suit which has no legal leg to stand on. ("Vertical integration," for example, is not peculiar to the oil industry, nor is it illegal.) Attorney generals of Connecticut and Florida also filed suits.

Washington, in the "we will force you to volunteer" spirit, pressed for mandatory allocations to the independents. But if they are tied to the majors by such artifacts, how independent will the independents be?

Vol. 1, No. 1 Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Volume 1 Issue/No.: Vol. 1, No. 1 Date: September 01, 1973 04:37 PM Title: Introducing Ourselves Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive All rights reserved.