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17.3% of Florida gas-stations out of fuel on Monday

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Outages peaked on Friday with over 26% of stations empty

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Wholesalers resume deliveries after minor damage to fuel

terminals in Tampa

By Shariq Khan

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Gas stations across Florida were

resuming operations on Monday, easing fuel shortages as the

state recovered from back-to-back hurricanes which caused

widespread disruption.

Millions evacuated their homes last week to escape Hurricane

Milton, jamming highways and causing gasoline shortages less

than two weeks after Hurricane Helene slammed the state. The

fuel shortages also affected clean-up efforts.

Only about 17% of Florida's nearly 8,000 gasoline retail

outlets were out of fuel on Monday at 1 p.m. EDT, down from a

peak of over 26% on Friday, according to data from market

tracker GasBuddy.com.

Tampa, which was spared from the catastrophic surge of

seawater many forecasters feared, saw gas station outages

decline to less than half of total area stations on Monday from

a peak of over 75% on Friday, GasBuddy data showed.

"There has been a slow, steady improvement since Friday,"

GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said. Most fuel retailers

should return to normal service in five to 10 days, he added.

RESUMING OPERATIONS

Florida is the third-largest gasoline consumer in the U.S.

There are no refineries in the state, so it depends on shipments

from elsewhere by land or water.

Port Tampa Bay, through which over 43% of Florida's annual

fuel imports pass, resumed vessel operations on Sunday, which

should improve fuel availability in coming days, wholesale

petroleum distributor Mansfield Energy said.

Mansfield, which suspended all fuel deliveries from Tampa to

Orlando last week, said it is asking for a 48-hour notice to

make new deliveries in Florida. Deliveries to southern Georgia

are back to normal, the company told clients.

Bulk fuel supply terminals completed initial damage

assessments after protectively shutting operations ahead of

Milton's landfall last Wednesday. Some had restored operations

while others were preparing to follow suit later this week,

according to statements shared with Reuters.

The Central Florida Pipeline system, which delivers

gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Tampa to Orlando, is fully

operational after resuming service over the weekend, operator

Kinder Morgan Inc ( KMI ) said, adding its bulk terminals in the

Tampa area are also operating.

Energy infrastructure company Martin Midstream Partners LP ( MMLP )

said its terminal in Tampa is about 75% operational and

full operations are anticipated over the next 48 to 72 hours.

On Friday, refiner CITGO Petroleum said it had begun

restoration work at its Tampa terminal and expects it to be

fully operational mid to late this week.

Oil major Chevron Corp ( CVX ) said repairs were underway at

its Tampa terminals while its Port Everglades and Panama City

terminals were supplying fuel to the market.