Steve (currently #47):
Lots of great points, but I suspect you're wrong about the price of gas increasing independent of the influence of the hurricane.
1) Supply of gasoline was interrupted by reduction in refinery capacity:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/business/12508223.htm
2) Incoming tankers had to change their route to avoid being in Katrina's path, resulting in short-term thinning of oil supply.
3) The Port of New Orleans is very large. Huge, really. Most of the oil destined for the area oil refineries comes through New Orleans.
4) Flood waters blocked or damaged railways into and out of the city, preventing oil traffic, and increasing consumption as trains reroute.
5) Increases in consumption from evacuations to generators. Rescue craft. We even have Canadian Mounted Police helping out here, and it takes oil products to get these resources in. I've been in the affected area, and everyone is driving trucks.
6) Nearly every oil drilling platform in the gulf had to shut down for the storm, and not all of the platforms reopened, resulting in reduced capacity.
I'm sure there are other factors, but I'm convinced.
HP's Jon Rubenstein told us that his company wanted to veer in a new direction, and veer it surely did -- the HP Veer 4G will arguably be the smallest fully-functional smartphone on the market when it goes on sale May 15th.
The most commented posts on Engadget over the past 24 hours.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Steve (currently #47):
Lots of great points, but I suspect you're wrong about the price of gas increasing independent of the influence of the hurricane.
1) Supply of gasoline was interrupted by reduction in refinery capacity:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/business/12508223.htm
2) Incoming tankers had to change their route to avoid being in Katrina's path, resulting in short-term thinning of oil supply.
3) The Port of New Orleans is very large. Huge, really. Most of the oil destined for the area oil refineries comes through New Orleans.
4) Flood waters blocked or damaged railways into and out of the city, preventing oil traffic, and increasing consumption as trains reroute.
5) Increases in consumption from evacuations to generators. Rescue craft. We even have Canadian Mounted Police helping out here, and it takes oil products to get these resources in. I've been in the affected area, and everyone is driving trucks.
6) Nearly every oil drilling platform in the gulf had to shut down for the storm, and not all of the platforms reopened, resulting in reduced capacity.
I'm sure there are other factors, but I'm convinced.