Middle Tennessee gas stations are running out of fuel, but don’t hoard
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NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) — Some gas stations across Middle Tennessee say they are running out of fuel. This is due to the Colonial Pipeline, which transports 45% of the East Coast’s fuel supply, is shut down due to a cyberattack. The shutdown happened Friday, and people in Nashville are beginning to feel the impact.
“I thought, “Well, I’ll take both cans and fill up the truck while I’m out”,” says Alan Smith, a customer at the Hendersonville Kroger gas station off Glenbrook Way. He’s stocking up in case of a shortage.
The Hendersonville Kroger location says they ran out of gas Monday afternoon and didn’t get another shipment until 10:30 P.M. They say they also ran out late Tuesday afternoon.
Patrick De’Haan, Head of Petroleum for Gasbuddy, says the shortage is due to the flow of the Colonial Pipeline which was disrupted. The pipeline moves 2.5-million barrels of fuel a day.
“This is a big kink in the hose, this is a drippy faucet instead of being wide open,” explains De’Haan. The Colonial Pipeline being down is starting to impact supply, but not so much price.”
De’Haan says to call it faith if you will, we shouldn’t see prices spike too much, at least not overnight.
“The good news is the federal government has waived some trucking restrictions so gasoline can start moving south into Tennessee,” De’Haan says.
He expects the pipeline to reopen by Friday.
One line of the Colonial Pipeline shut down in 2016. Experts say every day the pipeline is shut down, it will take five to seven days to recover. They say it could be almost a month before the country is back on track.
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