Is your state running out of gas?

[wvjules]

The pipeline closure is news for sure. However, if people just followed their usual buying patterns, and only bought gas when they really need it, we'd likely see spot shortages and not major shortages that we're about to see. People are filling their tanks just to fill their tanks, even if they aren't driving much. It's no different than people having cases of toilet paper in their basement at the beginning of the pandemic.

Eventually, when the pipeline is up and running later this week....and as people with full tanks in cars sitting in driveways no longer feel the panic to fill up, this phenomenon will sort itself out.

Ok but how is that the media's doing? Did the media say to go out and fill your tank and plastic bags full of gas?

Probably detailed their plan and the steps they will take to meet it, and what they are doing to mitigate in the interim and what they will do if their plan slips. And what's the backup plan if it all goes south...and then the backup to that backup...

Anything more than "well, we don't know" - about everything.

People like plans...they like concrete steps being taken...they like certainty in anything.

Does the owner of the pipeline have a detailed plan that they have released? Do they even have a detailed plan? Or a back up plan? There is no certainty with this so it's hard to report certainty, no?

 

[bcla]

Makes sense to me. You have tankers go to the terminals along the pipeline, pick up fuel, and then drive it to where it's needed. There could be trucks picking up fuel in south Georgia that drive it down to Florida.

I’m seeing contradictory info about Florida - that they’re primarily served by fuel delivered by barges. However, there’s concerns that other areas are going to try and get this fuel diverted.

https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2021/05/11/how-the-gas-pipeline-crisis-may-affect-florida
The shutdown doesn’t affect Tampa Bay because the region’s gasoline gets shipped to the Port of Tampa from refineries on the western and northern Gulf Coast. Gasoline from the port gets trucked as far south as Fort Myers and almost as far north as Chiefland, Bowman said.​

 

[smilie]

It's getting real! Lol....

 

[amylevan]

Does the owner of the pipeline have a detailed plan that they have released? Do they even have a detailed plan? Or a back up plan? There is no certainty with this so it's hard to report certainty, no?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that yes they have a detailed plan but no, it’s not something that would become public knowledge for security reasons.

That said, it’s actually the oil refineries that need to have back up plans (and again, they do.). As in, this pipeline is out due to terror, hurricane, earthquake...how do we get our fuel delivered? There are plans, but most are not instantaneous. They require rerouting barges, using more trucks, getting states to waive trucker rules like size and time on the roads.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Seems they are using the manual restoration plan for now...this should interest those in the MD/DC/VA corridor...

"On Monday night, Colonial Pipeline was able to manually restore a line that runs from Greensboro, North Carolina, to Woodbine, Maryland."

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/...now-after-colonial-pipeline-shutdown/2669321/

 

[dreamer17555]

As someone who actually was in Greensboro, NC 3 out of 4 stations are out of gas. Those that have it seem to have higher grades only.

 

[bcla]

It's getting real! Lol....View attachment 574632

While that isn't quite like the obviously staged video of a woman washing her car with "gasoline", it looks like a fuel container in the plastic tote. And that violates the rules I remember for filling fuel containers, which is that they should be placed directly on the ground to reduce the chance of static building up and maybe causing a fire.

 

[bcla]

Does the owner of the pipeline have a detailed plan that they have released? Do they even have a detailed plan? Or a back up plan? There is no certainty with this so it's hard to report certainty, no?

I'm pretty sure Colonial wouldclaim that anything they have would be a trade secret that could jeopardize their business should it get into the hands of its competitors. Right now they can isolate their systems and run them more or less manually. They've been doing that. They've been distributing fuel that was already in their terminals/tank farms. But they seem to be concerned about using the system together. Part of the supposed threat was to release data that had been obtained, so that wouldn't necessarily be anything that would jeopardize the use to the pipeline.

 

[dreamer17555]

Update via Gas Buddy as of 12:37 PM EST

Listed below is percentage of gas station in each state that are out of gas:

NC – 65%

GA – 42%

SC – 42%

VA – 42%

TN – 14%

FL – 10%

MD – 9%

DC – 8%

AL – 6%

MS – 5%

WV – 4%

KY – 2%

 

[jen7233]

I don't know if we are running out or panic buying. I filled up when I heard this news Monday, no line. Today we do have gas lines at our local stations that go around corners or down street a bit, I'd say it looks like about 30 minute wait to fill up. NoVa.

 

[RamblingMad]

I don't know if we are running out or panic buying. I filled up when I heard this news Monday, no line. Today we do have gas lines at our local stations that go around corners or down street a bit, I'd say it looks like about 30 minute wait to fill up. NoVa.

If you're going to wait for gas, then I'd opt for Costco, where the gas is usually cheaper.

 

[bcla]

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that yes they have a detailed plan but no, it’s not something that would become public knowledge for security reasons.

That said, it’s actually the oil refineries that need to have back up plans (and again, they do.). As in, this pipeline is out due to terror, hurricane, earthquake...how do we get our fuel delivered? There are plans, but most are not instantaneous. They require rerouting barges, using more trucks, getting states to waive trucker rules like size and time on the roads.

I can only speak for my area, but I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where we're serviced by four refineries. They're all serviced by pipelines that send in crude oil and send out gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, etc. They also all able to receive and send deliveries through ships. However, they're not really equipped to deal with any of them going down. Maybe if ships couldn't use the dock that wouldn't be so bad, but pipelines being shut down would be really bad.

Of course now the problem is mostly panic buying at the retail level. Fuel depots aren't necessarily running out of fuel. It's also possible to get creative. While normally it makes sense to avoid moving commodity fuel as much as possible to reduce transportation, it's not a perfect system. I guess fuel refiners can do more trading where they don't have to move fuel as much to get it to retail customers. However, there are a lot of places that aren't near refineries or where they just can't get enough fuel without the Colonial pipe in operation.

 

[jen7233]

If you're going to wait for gas, then I'd opt for Costco, where the gas is usually cheaper.

Costcos with stations are too far from me. I'm good this week. Could be interesting for our commuting here.

 

[Mango7100]

Panic buying is in full effect here in East TN. Luckily I had filled up my car this weekend. My husband actually would need gas tomorrow but decided to fill up this morning on way to work at 6 am. Lots of places with no gas in the city, but he found some farther out. Lots of people are filling portable gas containers as well...and around this circle we will go. I hope this is resolved by next week—we drive to Disney next Friday and cant make it all the way through GA with filling up.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

TBH, I don't pay attention to gas prices, and WFH, I don't have to worry about filling up a car.

However, we all know this is media driven. Yes, the hack happened. But, if it weren't for ma and pa out there filling up gas cans like their lives depended on it, there would be enough to go around for those that truly need it.

The fear mongering by the media gets stronger every day.

The hoarding due to the fear due to the media portrayal of, yet another "catastrophe" is what causes this...if everyone would learn to sit back and chill vs panic, we would not have these issues.

So annoying.

Actually the media I listen to and watch said this will only be for a short time and you don't need to change your usual pattern of getting it. How is it their fault selfish people don't pay attention, go to Wally World, buy 10 gas cans and fill them all up in addition to their car? When are we going to blame selfish people for their own selfishness?

 

[TwoMisfits]

There has been an announcement that the pipeline operator will be briefing the feds on their plans and backup plans tonight - hurray for better late than never...

As to why people panic, it's lack of trust in the info source. If you look at polls for trust in media, they are in the dumps, no matter the political persuasion (although there still is some difference, all are low figures)...thus, why the company needed to be forthright to avoid panic b/c the media wasn't gonna work as the sole source. The company was not forthright, at least til this evening, so here's where we are.

I think the people panicking are overreacting, but it doesn't truly matter what I think b/c my thoughts don't change the reality.

Driving up and down the southeast states in a long haul way for the next 7-10 days will be ill-advised. If I had a trip and that was my transport plan, I'd see if I could delay it or change my transport option.

 

[MillauFr]

This whole thing is just another example of how ill prepared we are for any disasters, emergencies, weather related events, etc..

With all our technology, etc., why can’t we just get it together?

Preparation costs money. I think if you wait a month and then come back and ask people if they would be willing to pay 10% more for gas in order to make the system more redundant most people would say no.

 

[Southernmiss]

The attack happened over the weekend. I don't think today (4 days later) is a long time to wait to hear from the company.

It was an unprecedented attack and the company probably needs a lot of government input on how to proceed.

We just expect instant results. And are not very patient people-hence the panic runs on gas.

 

[RamblingMad]

The attack happened over the weekend. I don't think today (4 days later) is a long time to wait to hear from the company.

It was an unprecedented attack and the company probably needs a lot of government input on how to proceed.

We just expect instant results. And are not very patient people-hence the panic runs on gas.

This pipeline caused gas shortages in GA a couple of years ago. I'm guessing people still remember that hunt for gas.

 

[RamblingMad]

There has been an announcement that the pipeline operator will be briefing the feds on their plans and backup plans tonight - hurray for better late than never...

As to why people panic, it's lack of trust in the info source. If you look at polls for trust in media, they are in the dumps, no matter the political persuasion (although there still is some difference, all are low figures)...thus, why the company needed to be forthright to avoid panic b/c the media wasn't gonna work as the sole source. The company was not forthright, at least til this evening, so here's where we are.

I think the people panicking are overreacting, but it doesn't truly matter what I think b/c my thoughts don't change the reality.

Driving up and down the southeast states in a long haul way for the next 7-10 days will be ill-advised. If I had a trip and that was my transport plan, I'd see if I could delay it or change my transport option.

The panic makes sense. This pipeline has lots of issues.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/09/col...k-heres-when-it-was-previously-shut-down.html