Sep. 30--Tuesday morning brought hope -- though little hard evidence -- that the gas shortages that have plagued metro Atlanta for the past two weeks might be easing.

Some stations were open and drew the usual lines as rush hour kicked in, while others were closed or offered only a few working pumps, with seemingly no rhyme or reason to the disparities.

One major chain, QuikTrip, told WSB-TV it expected all of its stations to have gas by Wednesday.

"The supply is getting better, the capacities of the pipeline are kicking up," company spokesman Mike Thornbrugh told the station.

But he also said deliveries are quickly being swallowed up by heightened demand.

Colonial Pipeline, which operates the main artery for gas coming to metro Atlanta terminals from the Gulf coast region, on Monday said flow was back to pre-hurricane levels. But it takes days for the gas to cover the distances involved, so full flow in the pipeline won't be immediately evident at the pumps.

AAA has said the situation may not be normal for another two weeks.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Energy reported on Monday that only two of 33 Gulf Coast refineries affected by hurricanes Gustav and Ike remain shut down. However, 13 others were still either in restart mode or producing less gas than normal, the DOE said.

Gov. Sonny Perdue, who is on a trade mission in Spain, on Monday issued a press release calling on the DOE to release a significant amount of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Perdue acknowledged it would take time for the crude to be processed by refineries and shipped to the metro Atlanta market.

The DOE says that, through last week, it had already released nearly 4 million barrels from the strategic reserve since Sept. 8.

The announcement from Perdue came as he continues to face criticism from Democrats, who have called for him to return early from his weeklong trip to Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon and Milan.

Polling suggests the governor's performance during the fuel shortage isn't earning points with Georgians.

At the Capitol on Monday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle filled in for the governor, holding a news conference to talk about how state leaders are working with suppliers to get more fuel to Georgia.

Cagle, who is running to succeed the two-term governor in 2010, denied that state officials underestimated the magnitude of the gasoline shortage. He declined to comment when asked about the timing of Perdue's trip to Europe.

"The crisis we are facing is severe.