Spot shortages of regular gasoline are being reported throughout the city and the surrounding area, as many city gas stations have trouble getting the new clean gasoline required by federal law.
“I called my supplier. He said things would be fine by Monday,” said Shiva Bista, an employee at a Crown Station on the 7000 block of York Road where the regular pumps were covered with plastic grocery bags Friday morning.
Bista said he been out of regular for half an hour and that supplies would be fine soon. The station was selling only premium gasoline at $3.25 per gallon.
According to American Automobile Association spokeswoman Ragina Overella, the spot shortages are a result of a federally mandated switch to cleaner gas.
“What we?ve been predicting are brief temporary shortages as a result of retailers making the switch from MTBE to ethanol gasoline,” Overella said.
The switch was intended to improve air quality while reducing MTBE contamination of ground water, but that transition has caused supply problem. Shortages of regular gasoline concern drivers.
“As the refineries are making the switch, there are temporary and brief shortages,” Overella said. “It is not due to a shortage of crude oil or gasoline.”
