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The shutdown of the nation’s largest gasoline pipeline continued to cause panic Wednesday in Hampton Roads, along with other parts of the Atlantic coast.
People are waiting in long, frustrating lines, which are causing traffic jams. Some local gas stations have run out of fuel and don’t know when they will get more.
The Colonial Pipeline can carry roughly 3 million barrels of fuel a day over 5,500 miles from Houston to New York. It delivers roughly 45% of the fuel used on the East Coast. Its operators shut it down last Friday because of a cyberattack.
The result has created shockwaves.
“This is unlike any situation I have seen in my 23 years here,” said Mike O’Connor, president of the Virginia Petroleum and Convenience Marketers Association. “In the past, shortages have been created by weather events or other events where we have some warning.”
He said the pipeline shutdown happened “in the blink of an eye.”
“Consequently, a finite number of gallons was available, and with consumer demand increasing, we are in for a tough few days,” he said.
AAA Tidewater Virginia spokesperson Holly Collins Dalby said the difficulty some are having finding gas is partly due to the pipeline shutdown and partly due to panic.
“Unfortunately, everyone panic buying and hoarding gas is making the situation worse,” she said. “That’s just going to continue to make things worse for people.”
She encouraged drivers to stay calm and to stop hoarding gasoline.
In Hampton Road, some gas stations continued to find themselves on the short end of the supply chain Wednesday. An employee at an Exxon station on South Battlefield Boulevard in Chesapeake said it had been out of gas since Tuesday, and couldn’t estimate as to when it would get more.
There were other service stations in Hampton Roads that fared better, reporting they received shipments as recently as 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Serena Lawrence works at the 7-Eleven on Azalea Garden Road in Norfolk. She said they ran out of gas Tuesday night but received a shipment Wednesday morning.
Two of the station’s pumps were out of service Tuesday afternoon. A line formed on each side so drivers could fuel up at the remaining pumps. The two out-of-service pumps have been fixed, Lawrence said, but she has seen people waiting for at least 30 to 40 minutes.
“Everything has been extremely busy,” she said.
The Lake Wright CITGO on Northampton Boulevard in Virginia Beach ran out of gas around 5 p.m. Tuesday. They had a load delivered, but it wasn’t the full amount, owner Javaid Iqbal said.
“We did have half of the load delivered,” Iqbal said. “There’s a short supply because of the pipeline. That’s what I’ve been told by my own company.”
GasBuddy, a Boston company that keeps track of fuel prices through a crowd sourcing app, reported that as of noon Wednesday, 46 of 80 stations the company charts on the Peninsula were out of gas. Several also were reporting they were out of diesel.
When asked how many of locations have been impacted, Shell, CITGO and BP were unable to provide a figure, but the companies provided similar statements noting that they are getting information from Colonial Pipeline.
“We are actively engaged with Colonial Pipeline to understand steps they are taking to resolve this issue,” wrote Curtis Smith, a spokesperson for Shell, in an email. “Nothing I can add on specific impacts to product flow.”
Due to the pipeline’s shutdown, CITGO reduced rates at its Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery to maintain as much operational flexibility as possible, a company representative wrote in an email.
“CITGO is moving products by marine from its Lake Charles refinery and, at the same time, is exploring alternate supply methods into other impacted markets,” the representative wrote. “Our Corpus Christi Refinery remains unaffected.”
In response to the shortages, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency Tuesday, giving government officials the power to punish suppliers for price gouging. It also loosens the state’s regulations to make it easier to get gas in tanks. The order will be in effect through June 10.
Virginia’s Attorney general, Mark Herring, encouraged people Tuesday afternoon to report price gouging.
[ Previous Coverage: Why some gas stations in Hampton Roads are having a hard time getting fuel ]
President Joe Biden’s administration also issued multiple waivers to alleviate the impact of the pipeline shutdown.
The Department of Transportation said Tuesday night it is allowing Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey and Tennessee to use interstate highways to transport overweight loads of gasoline and other fuels under existing disaster declarations, according to a news release from the White House.
The Biden administration also created an interagency response group to monitor the situation and address it as swiftly as possible, and has issued a one-week waiver allowing multiple states to use noncompliant fuel to boost supplies.
Newport News Shipbuilding said Wednesday that the company is in “constant contact” with state leaders.
“Fuel supply and distribution should be back to normal by Friday,” said Jennifer Boykin, president of the shipyard, in a Facebook post to company’s 25,000 employees as she advised them about working at home or carpooling.
Dalby said Tuesday that the fuel supply nationally is fine, but with the pipeline down, a shortage of tanker drivers is making it difficult to quickly get gas where it needs to be.
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Wednesday afternoon, she said AAA’s assessment of the situation hadn’t changed much.
“The Department of Transportation has eased restrictions for the tanker drivers,” she said. “That will be helping, and I know that the government’s looking at delivery of fuel via rail as well as ship to help alleviate until the pipeline comes back online.”
She said Colonial Pipeline is set to make an announcement at the end of the day Wednesday. They should let people know whether or not the pipeline will come back on by the end of the week as they originally anticipated.
Suspected price gouging can be reported to consumer@oag.state.va.us or 800-552-9963.
Ana Ley, 757-446-2478, ana.ley@pilotonline.com
Saleen Martin, 757-446-2027, saleen.martin@pilotonline.com
Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com