(Bloomberg) -- For the first time since Hurricane Harvey submerged much of the state's energy complex underwater, Texas is being forced to truck in gasoline from other states.
The freeze strained the energy supply chain at nearly every point: crude and natural gas production was paralyzed due to power outages and a lack of winterization, refinery units tripped offline, gasoline stations lost power, and road conditions were too treacherous for tanker trucks to deliver fuel.
Trucking in fuel is an extremely rare practice for Texas, which is home to the lion's share of America's oil, gasoline, diesel and petrochemical production. The last time Texas retailers brought gasoline across state lines was in 2017 in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, said Paul Hardin, president of the Texas Food & Fuel Association. Almost 14% of gas stations in the state are still unable to sell fuel, Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for retail tracker GasBuddy, said in an email.
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The Pilot Flying J chain owned by Pilot Travel Centers LLC brought gasoline from Arizona and New Mexico to supply some of its 100 Texas stores. Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores Inc. also has trucked in gasoline for its 75 locations.
The logistics crisis is rippling into the broader oil rally that is being driven by strengthening gasoline demand due to wide vaccine availability and federal stimulus checks. The temporary outage of so many refiners has driven the margins for turning crude into fuel to where they were right before the pandemic shut down the U.S. economy a year ago.
Hardin said he expects that the number of stations selling fuel will be nearly back to normal by Wednesday.
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