ROGERS, Ark. — There was a long backup at a gas supply facility in Rogers on Thursday (March 11).
The holdup was at a gas terminal where semis that haul gasoline go to pick it up.
The company Magellan Midstream owns storage terminals in Fort Smith and Rogers and confirmed the backup in Northwest Arkansas is due to semis from Fort Smith having to drive to Rogers to get gasoline. They are not currently loading gasoline at the Fort Smith terminal because of a supply shortfall.
5NEWS received the following statement from the company:
Magellan Midstream owns and operates refined petroleum product pipelines and storage terminals in Ft. Smith, Little Rock, Rogers and other states through the mid continent region. While we own the pipelines and terminals, we generally do not own the products (gasoline, diesel and jet fuel) transported and stored at our terminals. The products are owned by our customers.
Our pipelines and terminals are operating normally from a mechanical standpoint at this time. However, due to the recent cold weather in Texas and the Midwest, several refineries were taken out of service. While many of the affected refineries have resumed operations, there are occasions when we encounter short term supply outages at certain terminals.
While we are not currently loading gasoline at our Ft. Smith terminal due to a supply shortfall, we do have gasoline available at our terminals in Rogers, Little Rock and Tulsa. Therefore, petroleum transport trucks can load fuel at these terminals for delivery into western Arkansas until normal supplies return to our Ft. Smith terminal.
Magellan emphasized to 5NEWS that there is no risk for a gasoline shortage at local gas pumps.