Governor Releases Monday Fuel Update

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue today released the latest information on fuel production from the Gulf of Mexico:

• Power outages – There are still more than 154,000 people without power in Texas. Crews are making rapid progress restoring power – about 415,000 people were reported without power on Friday.
• Percent "shut-in" – The U.S. Department of Energy reports 57.4 percent of crude oil production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico is out. This is a slight improvement from Friday, when 59.3 percent of capacity was out. On Monday, September 22, 89.2 percent of capacity was out.
• Refineries – Only two refineries remain completely shut down, and three additional refineries are “back to normal” compared to Friday’s report.
• On September 27, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it is delivering 500,000 barrels of emergency exchange oil to Marathon’s Midwest refineries via the Capline.

Also today, Governor Perdue requested President George W. Bush direct the Department of Energy release a significant amount of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

"As President Bush and Congress work on a plan to rescue our financial markets, I urge them to also focus on our fuel shortage in the Southeast," Governor Perdue said. "As refinery capacity is returning to pre-hurricane levels, I believe a surge in crude from the Reserve would bridge the gap until full production resumes and lessen the impact of shortages on the daily lives of our citizens."

To date, DOE has released more than 4 million barrels of oil from the SPR. While it would take time for the crude to be processed by refineries and shipped to the Metro Atlanta market, release of the reserve would ensure fuel supplies continue to rise.

More than 1,000 Georgians have used a new tool at the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority's website that provides drivers with information about gas prices and gas availability. Consumers can access this information by going www.gefa.org and looking under the News and Notices section.

Some practical fuel efficiency tips for drivers include:

• Drive sensibly:   Speeding, rapid acceleration (jackrabbit starts), and rapid braking lowers gas mileage.
• Choose the right vehicle:  If you own more than one vehicle, drive the one that gets better gas mileage whenever possible.
• Decrease speed: Gas mileage decreases rapidly when driving more than 60 miles-per-hour.
• Avoid idling:  Idling gets zero miles per gallon.  Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas while idling than cars with smaller engines.
• Commute alternatives are also a useful way to conserve fuel, including telework, carpool and transit options, and flexible work schedules.  More information is available about commute alternatives at www.CleanAirCampaign.com.

These figures above come from the Department of Energy's daily situation report. The complete report is available at: http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/docs/2008_SitRep_20_Ike_092908_12PM.pdf .

NOTE TO EDITORS: A copy of Governor Perdue's letter to President Bush is attached.

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