Gas Prices to Spike in New Jersey Because of Busted Pipeline

My family living just outside of Atlanta, Georgia is dealing with gas prices that one day were $1.99/gallon and the next day they were $3.69/gallon.  Let's hope that doesn't happen here.

And not only is the price of gas skyrocketing, some gas stations have run out of gas.  My mom said she had to go to three different stations yesterday in search of gas.  The stations are running out.

Why?

The Colonial pipeline was shut down on September 9th because of a crack.  That crack dumped 250,000 gallons of gas into Shelby County, Alabama.  The pipeline ships gas between Houston and New York Harbor.

What does it mean for New Jersey?

Tom Kloza, Oil Pricing Information Service petroleum industry expert tells NJ.com that we could see a $0.05 to $0.10 jump in prices at the pump.

Unlike supplies of crude oil, where there are 510 million barrels currently in storage in the United States, gas operates on inventories that arrive "just in time" to meet demand, Kloza said.

The disruption of gas supply sent prices for wholesale gas up by 10 cents a gallon last week on the New York Mercantile Exchange, from $1.36 to $1.46 a gallon by Friday, according to NASDAQ. Some relief may be coming, since that price was reported at $1.44 on Monday morning and slipped to $1.41 by the evening.

Let's hope that what is happening in Atlanta does not happen in New Jersey....

Source: NJ.com