Regular at QuikTrip was priced at $2.79 a gallon

Sept. 2. By Dave Yochum. The Colonial Pipeline has restored operations following a temporary shutdown during Hurricane Ida, alleviating concerns about a new round of gas shortages even with the Labor Day weekend upon us.

Cornelius station operators said there are “no issues with gas” for weekend travelers. “We had a 20 cent price increase from a supplier on Sunday afternoon but we were not buying from them this weekend,” one industry source said.

Gas whisperer

Gasoline industry expert Tom Kloza told Cornelius Today Hurricane Ida may have ravaged Louisiana refineries, but the storm did not have much impact on downstream supply or prices.

Kloza is the global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Services, an internationally known fossil fuel tracking firm.

“That said, I suspect that it will be two or three weeks before we see normal supply of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel generated in Louisiana,” Kloza said.

He said there are some “little kinks or embolisms” on the Colonial and Plantation Pipelines that provide fuel for NC and many other states.

“Kinks of supply arriving a day late or so have not yet resulted in any station outages, and I don’t suspect that station outages will be a problem beyond Louisiana or Mississippi,” Kloza said.

Prices in Cornelius

Regular was pricing out between $2.69 a gallon (Circle K) and $2.99 a gallon (Exxon) on West Catawba around 10 am Thursday.

Impact varies

The impact is a bit strange, Kloza said.

“Normally one might expect to see a steady slide in September, October and November fuel prices. This year prices may remain about where they are at the moment instead of falling,” Kloza said.