GAS LINES FORMING AT LINCOLNTON STATIONS
Cars lined up down E. Main Street



By Jon Mayhew

LINCOLNTON -- The Carolina Scoop has learned that gas distributors in the greater Charlotte area are charging stations as much as 85 cents per gallon for gas they deliver to stations. And the costs are already being passed on to motorists. People have Hurricane Ike and OPEC to thank for the increase and gas and the residual increase in panic throughout the Charlotte region.

Friday morning in Lincolnton, the Shell station on the corner of East Main Street and Generals Boulevard was charging $3.99 per gallon for regular gas, which is more than 20 cents over yesterday's price.

Other stations, like the Texaco at Lowe's Hardware; the Raceway on East Main past Highway 321; and the Texaco across from Boger City Pawn was selling regular gas for aruond $3.54 per gallon.



And while the Raceway was out of regular and mid-grade gas, people were filling up on premium, which was still at a low $3.70 per gallon as of Friday morning before noon.

"I'm here getting gas because there was a long gas line at the Texaco down the street," said one Raceway customer.

People spent their morning finding a seemingly impossible bargain on gas, as the prices were expected to rise throughout the day on Friday.



One man told The Carolina Scoop he filled up his diesel pickup yesterday, in advance of the panic that was setting in today.

"It's just chaos out there," said the man in the parking lot of the Bojangles. "I'm glad I filled up yesterday."

The chaos of cars literally stopped on East Main Street has caused at least one traffic accident, reported in front of Raceway just before 11 a.m. Friday.

The sudden rise in gas prices is directly related to Hurricane Ike, who was expected to make landfall on the coast of Texas sometime Friday. With refineries in the gulf shutting down in advance of the storm -- and OPEC cutting oil production by a half million barrells this week -- gas prices may rise in some places by as much as $1 per gallon.

Check the gas tracker on the left side of The Carolina Scoop Web page for updates on gas prices around Lincolnton.