I remember when Katrina hit, we had severe fuel shortages here in NC. For the better part of two weeks or more I remember seeing police directing traffic in and out of the handful of stations that received fuel.
Am I mistaken or was that because of a pipeline rupture? It's been a long time and I could have it confused with another occurrence.
We've had a few different problems with the pipeline over the years. There was a rupture or fire (or something) not too long ago that had it offline for a week or so. During Katrina the problem was that the refineries were offline, so they weren't pumping any new fuel into the line. Together they add several million barrels per day, so after a few days being offline that shortage starts to show up.
According to that Reuters article, several of the Houston refineries are currently shut down, including the 1st and 2nd largest refineries in the country. I don't see how this
doesn't result in shortages and price spikes, especially since the floodwaters haven't even crested yet. They got like 5 feet of rain in Houston, and the water will continue to rise as all of the rain water from further inland drains down toward the Gulf.