The executive order follows one by Georgia’s governor to suspend federal rules and regulations limiting hours of operation for commercial vehicles “to ensure the uninterrupted supply of gasoline and other fuels needing to be moving on the highways of Georgia”. They also must be properly permitted by the state.
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Fuel supplies in those five states were threatened by the spill, and the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered Colonial to take corrective action.
Retail gasoline prices in Georgia, one of the hardest hit states, jumped almost 6 cents overnight to Monday, or more than 20 cents higher than a week ago, to $2.316 a gallon on average, according to motorists’ advocacy group AAA.
The pipeline serves much of the Southeast, and tanker deliveries had to be re-routed from other fuel terminals. The price on Monday stood at almost $2.16 a gallon on average in the Upstate.
SC and other states across the South have seen a spike in gas prices since the pipeline break.
According to GasBuddy, a handful of stations still charged less than $2 a gallon for regular on Monday morning.
Gov. Nathan Deal signed an executive order Monday preventing stations from significantly hiking prices, citing news reports of “substantially” increased prices in some markets.
Because of the fuel supply disruption, SC no longer holds the distinction of offering the cheapest gas in the nation.
The national average price for regular gas in the USA on Monday is just over $2.20. Loomis says independent stations who buy gas on the spot market, as opposed to national retailers who have long-term delivery contracts, could be affected first.
Still, pump prices across S.C. are lower than the national average.
Despite the recent fuel price increase, six states are still recording averages below $2, including MS ($1.96), Texas (1.96), Missouri ($1.97), New Jersey ($1.98), Arkansas ($1.99) and Louisiana ($1.99), AAA reported.
The pipeline – one of two operated by Colonial – carries fuel from refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast up into the Northeast, passing through Atlanta along the way.
Overnight, AAA reported the price of regular gas in Georgia jumped more than 5 cents from Sunday’s average of $2.26 to just over $2.31. He heard that some stations in Columbia might be running short on gasoline.
GasBuddy said some of the reported fuel outages resulted from panicked motorists filling up over the weekend. The company has not been more specific, but it has issued several online statements about the event.
Some fuel analysts don’t expect the spurt in prices to be permanent.
There have been reports of shortages in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and the Carolinas. The closing of the pipeline for maintenance caused gas prices in a number of Southeastern states to spike, rising seven cents or more week over week in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
“Motorists are encouraged to follow their normal driving habits and to not draw abnormally large amounts of gasoline from the pump”, Jenkins said.
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Besides the Carolinas, the supply disruption is hitting four other Southeastern states: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. The damaged pipeline’s ripple effect could spread to neighboring states as supplies are diverted, DeHaan said.
