Another interesting aspect to gas shortages is that those of us who drive cars requiring higher octane typically get hit a little less than people who use the cheapest gas possible. It seems to me like when prices increase the gap between 87, 89, 93 narrows a bit. I bounce back and forth between mid and premium largely depending on what the difference is, and when I have to fill up next time premium will almost certainly be the winner. I'm not sure if that's actually rational or not, but since pricing based on octane is an artificial construct anyway, I feel better only paying 40¢ more vs 80¢ as it often is.