What gas shortage?

Via ExPat Brian, I stumbled onto this rumor at Prague Twin. It's an e-mail from a tugboat sailor that alleges thousands of barges have been left loaded with unsold fuel in order to artificially create shortages and thus drive up the price of gasoline.

I know it smacks of conspiracy theory but I checked Snopes and they're listing it as undetermined so it hasn't been debunked yet. It's still new.

You would think someone would check it out. I wouldn't think it could be that easy to hide thousands of barges, but what do I know about the maritime business? Nada. It sure would explain a lot about why there's so suddenly shortages though.