U.S. fuel crisis caused by the strongest hurricane to ever hit the east coast pushed the asking prices for the gas on the black market at absurd rates.
Ads posted on the website Craigslist, the largest classified website in the USA, list gas price at over $25 a gallon, according to Business Insider.
Highest asking price for a gallon of gasoline is $30, according to an ad posted by a “New York contractor “. The poster placed Sunday morning an ad for five gallons of gasoline that he will carry in Brooklyn area around 10:30 PM. The announcement stated that the price is negotiable but the headline listed of $150 for all gallons.
Transactions of this type are illegal in the U.S. and Craigslist remove the ads when the administrators find them, but the sheer volume of posts makes it difficult to control the content of each ad.
Craigslist is the biggest online ad site in the U.S., and one of the largest in the world, with versions for 70 countries. Craigslist daily hits reach 20 billion impressions per day, as the site traffic is ranked 42nd in the world and top 10 in the U.S.
Government tries hard to ensure the supply of gasoline, 12 million gallons were delivered on Sunday in the New York City and New Jersey.
Governor of New Jersey (Northeast U.S.) ordered the rationalization of gasoline starting Friday night in a part of the state, due to the lack of fuel after the Hurricane Sandy.
On even days, only cars with even license plates will be supplied with gas, and on odd days it will be reversed, Governor Chris Christie decided.
In New York, thousands of drivers were waiting in lines Friday night for hours, late into the night, for a tank of gas, a situation that was not met since the 1973 oil crisis.
Only some stations were open and waiting to be supplied during the night, drivers waiting patiently in queues of up to two kilometers. People with empty containers for gas were waiting in the cold in separate rows. Some drivers were pushing their cars after the tank was completely emptied. Police ensured order at each station.
Gasoline crisis is another problem for New Yorkers after the electricity shortages they faced immediately after the hurricane earlier this week, the damage to property caused by water and transportation problems.
With each passing day after the hurricane, the magnitude of the disaster became more apparent and everyone realized after the sigh of relief the second day after the storm, that the consequences of the devastating storm were initially underestimated.
The devastating Hurricane Sandy that struck the United States a week ago has left more than 100 people dead and caused damage estimated at up to $50 billion.
Reply