AUSTIN, Texas — Amid the news of the Colonial Pipeline temporarily shutting down, Americans on the East Coast and in the South started scrambling to buy gas.
But Thursday, the AAA said in a release that motorists should see relief soon. The AAA reports that since the time the pipeline was taken offline on Friday until Thursday morning, the national gas price average increased 7 cents to $3.02.
While the pipeline runs out of the Houston area, petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan with GasBuddy told KVUE on Tuesday since it doesn't serve Texas, we shouldn't see gas prices hike because of it. At the time, GasBuddy said it would be tough to pin the exact amount prices may rise by, but it appeared to be a few cents per gallon, possibly growing more significantly if the pipeline remained shut down for more than two or three more days.
The Colonial Pipeline announced the restart of pipeline operations late Wednesday, according to AAA.
As of May 13, in Texas, gas prices are up 11 cents on average from one week ago, according to AAA. In the Austin area, it follows the state trend, jumping 11 cents from $2.56 per gallon to $2.67 per gallon, on average.
But that does not necessarily correlate to there being a gas shortage in the city.
In Austin, there is plenty of fuel to go around. According to gasbuddy.com, all gas stations in Austin appear to have fuel for filling up. Here's a look at GasBuddy's fuel tracker on May 13, with green markers indicating that gas stations have fuel and power:
Green markers pepper the fuel tracker results for other big cities in Texas, including Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. If you want to check the status of gas stations in your area, you can check GasBuddy's fuel tracker online.
Still, for motorists traveling through the South and Southeast this weekend, AAA offered these tips:
- If you own more than one car, use the most fuel-efficient model.
- Plan ahead – bring groceries and other necessities with you to reduce making trips while you’re at your destination.
- Fill up before getting to your destination. Use the AAA Mobile app to locate gas stations and call ahead to see if they have fuel.
- Avoid driving during high-traffic times of day.
- Pack lightly. Remove unnecessary and bulky items from your car and don’t use your roof rack or a special cargo carrier. It takes more fuel to accelerate a heavier car, and the reduction in fuel economy is greater for small cars than larger models.
- Don’t travel with a container carrying extra fuel in your car.
If you’re already on the road and will be traveling throughout the South/Southeast Coast:
- Use the AAA Mobile app to locate gas stations and call ahead to see if they have fuel.
- Have a Plan B in case you need to stay longer or can only make it part of the way home (find a stopping point). Use the AAA Mobile app to find hotels along your route and call ahead to check availability.
- Minimize your use of air conditioning. Even at highway speeds, open windows have less effect on fuel economy than the engine power required to operate the air conditioning compressor.
- In hot weather, park in the shade or use a windshield sunscreen to lessen heat buildup inside the car. This reduces the need for air conditioning (and thus fuel) to cool down the car.
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