‘There is no need to panic’: People in oil, consulting industry say no need to panic buy gasoline

The average price of a gallon of unleaded gas in New Jersey went up another penny overnight to $3.04, as the national average sits at $3, trending to the highest price in over six years.

News 12 Staff

May 12, 2021, 11:42 AM

Updated 1,307 days ago

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Experts say that New Jersey drivers have nothing to worry about in terms of a fuel shortage because of the cyberattack at the Colonial Pipeline. But many drivers seem to be worried about the supply anyway.
Diane Wallace and her friend Ellen Parrish are on a road trip from Massachusetts to Virginia to visit family. They stopped at the Vince Lombardi Service Station in Ridgefield to fuel up.
“We’ve been getting notes from our kids, get gas on the highway whenever you can because it’s crazy down here,” Wallace says.
The women say that they have heard that down in Virginia, drivers must go to multiple gas stations to find one that has gas.
“We’re topping it off every time we stop. Making sure we have enough to get down there,” says Parrish. “Got to have enough to get around once we get there.”
AAA spokeswoman Tracy Noble says that drivers need to stay calm and fill up as they normally would.
New Jersey is at the tail-end of the pipeline and the state produces a lot of fuel locally. There isn’t expected to be a shortage in New Jersey any time soon.
“What we want to avoid at all costs is any incidence of panic-buying. Fill your tank up when necessary to do so. We do not want to see a repeat of what we saw this time last year with people panic-buying household items,” Noble says. “That is not a situation that we are in in New Jersey. So please, do not go and top off every household vehicle. We are not expecting to see shortages in New Jersey.”
Noble says that longer lines are possible. She says that the price of fuel is expected to increase, but not because of the situation with the pipeline. She says that the price increase in New Jersey is seasonal.
Colonial initiated the restart of pipeline operations late Wednesday afternoon.