Nearly 16% of gas stations in Florida had run out of fuel as of late-morning Tuesday as people flee north to escape the path of Hurricane Milton, according to data from GasBuddy.
Many stations simply can’t keep up with gasoline demand as millions of Floridians collectively evacuate, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. About 1,200 of the state’s 7,900 gas stations are currently without fuel, according to the data.
“The sheer bulk of this is simply people getting out of harm’s way,” De Haan told CNBC. Prices should not rise as a consequence of the storm because infrastructure and refineries are not expected to be impacted, he said.
Milton is forecast to make landfall on the west-central coast of Florida on Wednesday night and then move east-northeastward across the central part of the state through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Milton is currently a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. The storm is forecast to remain “an extremely dangerous hurricane” through landfall in Florida, according to the forecasters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday morning that the state was stockpiling fuel ahead of the storm. Gas stations are running out of fuel and lines are long but there is not a shortage in the state, DeSantis said.
Fuel continues to arrive in Florida by port and trucks have been dispatching supplies to stations in the anticipated impact area, the governor said. The Port of Tampa and other Gulf Coast ports are not receiving ships but the facilities have fuel on hand and dockside operations will continue, he said.
There are no oil refineries in Florida and only 2,000 barrels of oil per day are produced in the state, said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. However, there are several terminals along the waterfront in Tampa that could be impacted by Milton, Lipow said.
“They are at risk from storm surge, flooding, and power outages,” Lipow said in a Tuesday note. “Significant damage to these facilities will impact on the ability to get gasoline and diesel back into the area for distribution.”
Gasoline delivery by tanker likely will not be possible in Tampa until Sunday at the earliest, Lipow said. Terminals with power, however, could begin distribution of fuel Saturday and Sunday depending on worker and truck driver availability as well as whether local gas stations are working, he said.
