JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Although Hurricane Ike isn't expected to make landfall in Texas until Saturday, the gigantic storm has already affected the oil business and some gas customers across the Southeast.

Wholesale prices for gas have jumped dramatically in anticipation of what Ike may do to refineries along the Texas coast, where one one-fifth of oil for U.S. markets is refined. There has already been a ripple effect as some stations across the Southeast have begun asking customers to limit their gas purchases.

The Kangaroo convenience store chain asked its stores to post the following sign on the pumps:

"Due to limit gasoline supply, we ask that our customers limit their gasoline purchase to 10 gallons per transaction. This request will allow us to provide gasoline for all of our valued customers during this time of limited supply in the southeastern United States."

The signs began popping up on Thursday, and Channel 4 viewers quickly started asking if there was going to be a gas shortage or rationing.

Kangaroo stores are part of The Pantry chain, with 1,600 stores in Florida and 10 other states.

Pantry CEO Pete Sodini said the company's request was designed "to head off any panic buying. What you're going to do if you go out and fill up every car in the household, you're going to run this market out of supply temporarily."

Sodini said the limit may be dropped Friday at some stations, depending on the supply of gasoline.

The Florida attorney general's office said it has already heard from some gas production managers in the state who told them there would be a slight decrease in supply to the state of Florida the weekend, which they said could prompt slight increases in cost.

However, no outrageous price increases are expected. Anyone who does see any extremely high gas prices should call the gas-gouging hot line and contact the attorney general's office in Tallahassee.

Emergency management officials in three western North Carolina counties said lines formed and some stations ran out of fuel Thursday after rumors of supply problems. The officials said there was no shortage.

After Katrina, prices spiked to $3 a gallon -- a high price at the time -- and some stations ran out of gasoline.

Gasoline prices spiked in many areas Thursday, with prices at $4 a gallon not far from Pantry headquarters in North Carolina, but prices to the north in the Raleigh area averaged $3.68, according to the AAA auto club.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Valero Energy Corp., ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Co. were among the companies that stopped refinery operations on the Texas coast, primarily in the Houston area.

Your Turn: See gas prices spike? Let us know.