Charlotte drivers should expect ‘headaches’ at gas pumps for 1-2 weeks, analyst warns

Charlotte-area gasoline prices continued to inch up Thursday as supplies remained tight for a third day, after a ransomware attack last week shut down the pipeline that provides petroleum to distributors in the Carolinas and other states.

Relief at the pump is coming, as Colonial Pipeline Co. restarted pipeline operations at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

At 4:40 p.m. Thursday, Colonial Pipeline said it had made “substantial progress in safely restarting” the pipeline. But the company reiterated that it could take “several days” for supplies to return to normal.

“We can now report that we have restarted our entire pipeline system and that product delivery has commenced to all markets we serve,” according to a company statement. “ ... Some markets may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during this start-up period.”

President Joe Biden on Thursday urged patience.

“We will not feel the effects at the pump immediately,” he said in remarks at the White House. “This is not like flicking on a light switch.”

Biden said he expects a “return to normalcy” beginning this weekend, and he urged drivers not to get more gas than they need over the next few days.

“Panic buying will only slow the process,” he said.

Colonial Pipeline reported that the restart of the pipeline “went well overnight,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Twitter on Thursday morning.

“This should mean things will return to normal by the end of the weekend,” she said. “Will keep you posted.”

Some petroleum industry watchers were skeptical of the timeline.

Carolinians, along with Georgia and Virginia drivers, should expect up to two weeks “of headaches,” GasBuddy.com energy analyst Patrick DeHaan said on Twitter on Thursday morning.

“The situation will definitely take time and slowly improve due to a high number of outages and higher number of stations to refuel,” he said.

DeHaan, in a separate tweet Thursday, included Charlotte in a list of markets that showed “some improvement” in gas supplies.

Friday morning, the average price for a gallon of unleaded in Charlotte rose to $2.90, from $2.87 on Thursday and $2.68 a week ago, according to AAA. Nationally, the average price rose to $3.04, AAA reported.

Report: Colonial Pipeline paid ransom

The ransomware attack that targeted Colonial Pipeline last Friday forced the shutdown of the 5,550-mile pipeline that delivers 45 % of fuel to the Southeast and along the East Coast. The FBI on Monday blamed the attack on DarkSide, a group of Eastern European hackers, McClatchy News reported.

Colonial Pipeline, which operates a tank farm in northwest Charlotte, is said to have paid nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency to DarkSide, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the transaction. A representative from Colonial declined comment to Bloomberg.

Gas shortages in NC, SC

Many gas stations in the Carolinas had no fuel in their pumps Friday morning.

At 6:45 a.m., 72% of North Carolina stations and 52% in South Carolina were without gas, according to GasBuddy.com.

At 10 a.m. Thursday, those figures stood at 68% in N.C. and 52% in S.C. Around the same time a day earlier, 28.2% of N.C. gas stations and 16.2% in S.C. were out.

A small increase in station outages is not surprising, De Haan said on Twitter.

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North Carolina Gov. Cooper declared a state of emergency on Monday, triggering the state’s price gouging law.

More than 600 price gouging complaints have been filed, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein told CNN on Thursday morning.

“If I find price gougers, I will hold them accountable,” Stein said.

Residents who believe they are victims of price gouging can report concerns by calling 877-5-NO-SCAM or by filing a complaint at https://ncdoj.gov/file-a-complaint/price-gouging/.

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Early Thursday, the White House announced that more gasoline and jet fuel was on the way from the Gulf Coast to East Coast ports. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas approved the additional supply, according to a White House statement.

“This is a temporary situation,” Biden said. “Do not get more gas than you need in the next few days.”

More elected officials want answers

Democratic members of Congress say they want investigations into the Colonial hack, after North Carolina Republican representatives made similar demands.

In a letter to House leadership Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Alma Adams of Charlotte joined four other Democratic House members from North Carolina in calling for a “full investigation” into the cyberattack.

“It is clear that the United States cannot afford to sustain similar attacks on our critical energy infrastructure in the future,” the group wrote. The group also included U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfield, Kathy Manning, David Price and Deborah Ross.

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, R-NC, said he is leading a group of six fellow Republican House members from North Carolina demanding answers and solutions from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The delegation asked the agency to brief members of Congress as soon as possible on issues including how pipeline systems were compromised and when systems will be restored to “full capacity,” according to a letter signed by the delegation and sent to Granholm.

Charlotte-area House Republicans who signed the letter included Dan Bishop, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson and Patrick McHenry.

Ways to conserve fuel

AAA offers these tips on saving the gasoline that’s left in your tank:

▪ Plan ahead to accomplish multiple errands in one trip.

▪ If you own more than one car, use the most fuel-efficient model.

▪ Remove unnecessary and bulky items from your car. It takes more fuel to accelerate a heavier car.

▪ Minimize your use of air conditioning.

▪ In hot weather, park in the shade or use a windshield sunscreen to lessen heat buildup inside the car.

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