NEW YORK – Most filling stations in the New York City metro area now have supplies of gasoline available for sale, as energy supply lines are restored following the huge storm Sandy this week, according to a survey released on Saturday by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Of the New York area gas stations polled in the survey, 62 percent reported having gasoline supplies available for sale on Saturday, up from 33 percent on Friday.

The information was collected by the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration, or EIA, the statistical arm of the DOE.

Among the approximately 38 percent of filling stations with no gasoline available for sale, 3 percent of filling stations were shuttered due to power outages, 10 percent reported having power but no gasoline supplies, and 24 percent could not be contacted, an indication they were closed, the EIA said.

The data paint a picture of recovery for the retail fuel supply chain in the storm-hit areas of New York’s metro area.

But media reports, including from Reuters, also documented continuing supply snags on Saturday. Some filling stations had lines of dozens of vehicles and up to hundreds of people waiting with jerry cans for gasoline supplies, which were being rationed in some areas. Police were sent out to maintain order at some crowded filling stations.

(Reporting by Joshua Schneyer; Editing by Peter Cooney.)