AAA: Colonial Pipeline Partial Closure May Cause Temporary Price Increase in Georgia

ATLANTA, Ga. (September 16, 2016) — The Colonial pipeline, supplying much of the East Coast running from Texas to New Jersey SEE MAP HERE, has been partially closed since September 9 when a leak was discovered in Alabama. The company originally anticipated having the pipeline reopened by this weekend, but bad weather has delayed the fix. This partial closure has caused tighter supply for some southeast and Mid-Atlantic States.

The southeast has a fairly healthy supply of crude and gasoline inventories, but the market relies on just-in-time inventory and could be disrupted by an extended partial closure of the pipeline. States that could be directly impacted by tighter supply and slightly higher prices include Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

“While there is plenty of gasoline and crude supply, the pipeline is the most efficient way to deliver the product to Georgia,” said Garrett Townsend, Georgia Public Affairs Director, AAA—The Auto Club Group. “All of these states have already seen the switch from summer to winter grade gasoline, so that won’t be a factor.”

Colonial Pipeline has a very solid history of making sure that operations are quickly restored. According to Tom Kloza, Global Head of Energy Analysis for Oil Price Information Service, the Colonial Pipeline could be shipping a normal volume of gasoline next week.

“I do not anticipate areas where motorists won’t be able to find gasoline,” said Kloza. “Crude oil is still in a glut position, so you may see crude oil prices weaken and watch as local gasoline prices go up by 5-10cts gal.”

Currently Georgia’s gasoline average is $2.13, an increase of three cents from yesterday. National, state and metro-averages are available from AAA at GasPrices.AAA.com. Consumers can find the cheapest gas prices close to home and on the road by using the free AAA app, AAA Mobile which is available for Android and Apple devices.