Monday morning gasoline prices for regular unleaded was at $2.10 at the Community Stop gas station on US 401 across from St. Andrews University – by 2 p.m. the price had increased to $2.39, according to Caitlyn Graham, a clerk at Community Stop.
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In the Chattanooga, Tennessee, area, the price of regular gas jumped 6 cents in one day, AAA reported.
Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina signed an order last week to temporarily waive hours of service restrictions for fuel vehicles, and another to prevent significant price increases at fuel stations.
ATLANTA (AP) – Gasoline should begin flowing again Wednesday – through a temporary bypass on a critical pipeline – after a major leak in Alabama forced a shutdown that led to surging fuel prices and scattered gas shortages across the South, a company official said Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the company says that it will take a few days for the fuel supply chain to fully recover after the line restarts.
Prices in those states – Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia – have spiked by as much as 20 cents since the weekend.
In some cases, prices almost 80 cents per gallon higher than recent previous pricing.
In North Carolina, the price is now $2.19 per gallon, a 6-cent jump since Sunday, and in SC, prices are up at $2.08 per gallon, a jump of 15 cents since Friday.
A gas pipeline leak that has caused gas prices to increase in various Southern states is not impacting gas prices in California, according to AAA.
“This isn’t something where you flip a switch and everything is back to normal instantly”, says Colonial spokesman Brian Kennedy.
He said while RBOB gasoline futures were plunging Tuesday, wholesalers were still seeing prices of 40 cents to 50 cents above futures prices.
Each day, Colonial Pipeline delivers more than 100 million gallons of refined products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, home heating oil and fuels for the USA military, to markets between Houston and New York City.
Colonial Pipeline Company remained buoyant Monday, hopeful that the interruption to supply would be minimal.
Gas shortages in some parts of Virginia are raising concerns about what this might mean for the fuel supply and prices. “But it hasn’t been that bad”, said William Buffalo, a clerk at a gas station in Buckhead. In South Carolina, a gallon was selling for an average of $2.04.
The law doesn’t say what price constitutes gouging.
In recent days, several service-stations in Asheville have been pumped dry of fuel or have seen lengthy lines of motorists hoping to fill up their tanks.
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Analysts have said retail prices may continue to climb as supply disruptions will not be alleviated immediately.
