“Panic Gasoline Buying” In Southeast Leads To “Massive Lines”, Gas Shortages, Price Gouging
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Sep 19, 2016
As reported over the weekend, the Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Houston to New York, began leaking on September 9, spilling 250,000 gallons of gasoline, or 6,000 barrels. The pipeline was built in 1962, and the current leak in Helena, Alabama, is the largest one Colonial Pipeline has experienced in 20 years.
As a result, various states in the Southeast, including Alabama, Tennessee, & Georgia declared states of emergency ahead of what could be substantial gas shortages, with North Carolina and Virginia joining earlier today.
For the Nashville area, however, this escalation achieved the opposite effect of the intended outcome: as the Tennessian reports, in the “panic-driven” rush to Nashville area gas stations to load up in advance of what would be higher prices if not outright shortages, motorists scrambled to load up, leading some stations to run out of gas while others reported long lines.
Ironically, the leaking Colonial Pipeline doesn’t even regularly supply Tennessee, said Emily Leroy, executive director of the Tennessee Fuel and Convenience Store Association. However, that did not matter to local residents And, Leroy adds, “Panic buying is the worst thing that can happen under any circumstance.”
The Rest…HERE
