(CMR) Over 1,000 gas stations in several states ran out of gas Tuesday following a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline that supplies the East Coast last week. The pipeline has reportedly been down since the attack.
As news of the attack spread, several people engaged rushed to gas stations attempting to fill up their tanks before the situation worsens.
US gasoline demand jumped 20% on Monday compared with the prior week, with demand u by a collective 40.1% in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
According to a CNN report on Tuesday, a growing number of gas stations along the East Coast were without fuel as nervous drivers aggressively fill up their tanks. The panic-buying threatens to exacerbate the supply shock.
As of 9 pm ET Tuesday, 12.3% of gas stations in North Carolina and 8.6% in Virginia didn't have gasoline, according to outage figures reported by GasBuddy, CNN stated. The Virginia figure was up from 7.7% at 4p ET, while North Carolina was up from 8.5% previously.
Rising outages were also reported at gas stations in Georgia (8.0%), Florida (3.0%), and South Carolina (5.9%).
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told CNN Business that “Panicked buying” is “running stations in the region dry.”
He warned that the “irrational behavior” could prolong supply issues “for weeks.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm pleaded with Americans not to hoard gas as the pipeline attempts to resume operations.
“Let me emphasize that much as there was no cause for say, hoarding toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic, there should be no cause for hoarding gasoline, especially in light of the fact that the pipeline should be substantially operational by the end of this week and over the weekend,” Granholm said during Tuesday's White House press briefing.”
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