Colonial pipeline outage spurs concerns over gasoline supply on Gulf Coast

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) - Concerns over gasoline supply are growing following the cyber attack of the Colonial Pipeline. State officials are urging people not to worry or ‘panic buy.’

Some gas stations on the Gulf Coast are running short on gas. On Wednesday, customers were greeted by out-of-order signs on the gas pumps at a gas station in Jackson County. Staff at the gas station told WLOX it was due to a lack of gas.

Fortunately, a tanker truck showed up shortly before noon and got the gas pumps back online. That truck driver said things have been hectic these past few days following the Colonial Pipeline hacking.

He said he’s working long days to make sure gas stations have enough fuel.

“I’m pulling like 12-15 hour days, waiting at the refineries for an average of two to three hours,” said trucker Rashid Abdul-Salaam. “Everything is pretty much backed up, when we can get it, we can get it. Like I said earlier, we have customers that actually wait on the side of the interstate at the gas stations and once they see the tanker truck coming they kind of get on our back door and follow us into the gas station.”

Fortunately for the Gulf Coast, the main supplier is the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery, and they said they are unaffected by the pipeline outage, but they are staying busy. Several tanker trucks were pulling in and out of the refinery throughout the day.

The refinery said truck traffic has increased significantly as they work to meet the needs of drivers throughout the region. They say they’re also helping areas that are experiencing outages.

Some drivers are still worried about a potential gas shortage and are filling up when they can.

“We don’t get these scares very often but when we do, I am one of those that be like, okay, keep the truck filled up with gas. So yeah, but right now, everybody needs to be cautious on how much gas is and how much they’re traveling, to be honest,” said Rosetta Jones.