Williamson County could see rising gas prices, isolated shortages

The pipeline carries around 1.3 million barrels per day.

This is the largest spill on the Colonial line since 1996, when about 22,800 barrels of fuel oil leaked in SC, according to National Transportation Safety Board data.

Gasoline prices soared on the news of the delay, with USA gasoline futures rising as much as 6 percent to a session high of $1.4433 a gallon. Crews had to partially close the pipeline after a leak was found in Alabama, and repairs have been set back by bad weather. The company said the supply of gasoline is now very thin along the closed pipeline, and that it was trucking in supplies from the coast to meet demand. States that could be directly impacted by tighter supplies and slightly higher prices include Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The first states projected to be affected by shortages are all close to the leak – Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and SC.

The outage is expected to hit the East Coast and Southeast markets the most, as they rely heavily on pipeline supply to meet demand. Gov. Robert Bentley issued an executive order Thursday declaring a state of emergency in Alabama over concerns about fuel shortages in the wake of a gasoline pipeline spill that released about 250,000 gallons of gasoline south of Birmingham and shut down a major pipeline connecting refineries in Houston with the rest of the country.

A section of the Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Houston to NY, has been closed since September 9 after a spill of roughly 250,000 gallons was discovered in rural Shelby County, Ala.

Colonial says after ensuring the safety of workers, minimizing and preventing environmental impact is a primary objective of their response.

The Wall Street Journal reported gasoline futures, which are priced in New York Harbor and sensitive to East Coast supply issues, were up 4% Thursday. The cause of the leak has not been determined, and full service will not be restored until next week at the earliest, according to CNN Money. “It was 6,000 barrels but they said they can’t figure it out yet”, said Kilduff.

Kloza said, “You’re going to see some places without gasoline”. Probably little effect in NY and New England, he said.

The company has restarted Line 2, its distillate line, due to the shutdown of Line 1.