Colonial Pipeline shut down the line that pumps a million barrels of gas a day to North Carolina and five other Southern states.
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A few stations in the area have reported being low on fuel, but supply should be fine until crews are able to get the pipeline back up and operating.
The pipeline bypass was needed to move fuel around the leak of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama.
In Georgia, AAA reported the price of regular gas jumped more than 5 cents from Sunday’s average of $2.26 to just over $2.31. The price has climbed almost 7 cents since Monday in the Macon and A. It is the highest prices have been since reaching almost $2 per gallon in June.
In Lexington, the average is up 14 cents from last week, but it is 13 cents lower than this time previous year. Tennessee’s prices rose by about $0.14 to $2.13 per gallon; South Carolina’s by $0.13 to about $2 per gallon; and North Carolina’s rose by $0.12 to $2.17 per gallon today, according to GasBuddy, a website that tracks fuel prices.
Still, GasBuddy.com’s live average of 704 gas stations in Hampton Roads shows that gas prices increased 6 cents from $1.98 Sunday to $2.04 by 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Yasamie August, a spokesperson for Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley’s office, said they do not plan to release a separate order related only to gasoline prices.
Bentley toured Colonial Pipeline’s emergency response center, in a luxury resort hotel about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the pipeline breach, and spent much of a news conference Monday praising the company’s response.
In early September, a leak on Line 1 of the Colonial Pipeline occurred in Alabama and pressured prices in southeast states sharply higher, including week-over-week increases of 7 cents or more in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Colonial Pipeline said it does not expect to fully reopen its primary gasoline pipeline until next week. Even with the recent increases, the price of gas in the Carolinas is still less than the national average of $2.20 a gallon.
Sheetz stations specifically use the Colonial pipeline for their gas.
“I’m definitely on empty, so I’m going to have to figure something out”, she said.
Besides the Carolinas, the supply disruption is hitting at least four other states: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
The average price for gasoline in the Commonwealth Monday was $2.03 per gallon.
Motorists in the six states served by the Colonial pipeline have seen a spike in gasoline prices in the past week as a result of tightened supplies. Friday, the governor issued a second executive order that waives additional trucking restrictions and protects consumers from price gouging at the fuel pumps.
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A surge in gasoline futures started to reverse Monday as gas station operators began receiving fuel shipments along portions of the U.S. Eastern seaboard.
