RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The company that operates a key gasoline pipeline that was shut down after damage from Hurricane Harvey released a new statement Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, industry analysts say gas could soar to $2.75 a gallon over the Labor Day weekend.
Colonial Pipeline announced Thursday that it would shut down a critical piece of infrastructure responsible for providing gas to the East Coast.
On Saturday afternoon, Colonial said it “made more progress towards a projected Sunday restart” of the system east of Texas, but warned the Sunday restart was a “projection” and “dependent on a number of considerations.”
The pipeline provides nearly 40 percent of the South’s gasoline.
Colonial said Saturday that the remainder of the Colonial system continues to operate “with available supply” but government officials said Saturday that deliveries from Lake Charles, Louisiana east to Greensboro, North Carolina are only intermittent.
Now, the spike in gasoline prices in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey has hit the accelerator.
The national average for regular was $2.54 a gallon by Friday afternoon, an increase of 18 cents in the last week, according to GasBuddy. Oil Price Information said Saturday that the national average was at $2.59.
In North Carolina, gas prices were up 25 cents in the last week to $2.55 for regular gas, travel club AAA reported on Saturday. Average premium gas prices topped $3 a gallon in North Carolina.
Prices jumped at least 10 cents a gallon in 24 hours in Texas, Ohio, Georgia and the Mid-Atlantic states, AAA reported Friday.
The nationwide average was already higher than most experts predicted as a worst-case scenario when flooding from the devastating storm began knocking out refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast a week ago.
The Department of Energy reported Saturday that 10 refineries in the Gulf Coast region were still shut down.
“No refineries have changed their status since yesterday afternoon’s report,” the Department of Energy website said Saturday.
These closed refineries have a combined refining capacity of 30.1 percent of total Gulf Coast refining capacity and 15.8 percent of total U.S. refining capacity.
Two of the leading price-forecasting analysts, GasBuddy’s Patrick DeHaan and Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service, now see the national average peaking as high as $2.75 a gallon in the next few days.
Part of the pipeline that runs through Texas is shut down and inspections must be done before the entire system can be fully operational again, Colonial Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker said Thursday.
The Georgia-based company remains able to operate its pipeline from Louisiana to states east and northeast of there.
On Thursday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s office announced he was declaring a state of emergency in order to temporarily waive restrictions on trucks hauling fuel to North Carolina.Related: NC state of emergency for gas, SC looking into it
“I’m taking action to make it easier to get gasoline into our state so North Carolinians who need gas can get it,” Cooper said.
Cooper also signed an executive order on Thursday declaring an “abnormal market disruption for gasoline,” putting the state’s anti-price-gouging law into effect for the next 45 days.
The law prevents sellers from charging prices that are “unreasonably excessive.” However, the law doesn’t specify what precisely that means.The Associated Press and CBS News contributed to this report
