'Relax, There's Plenty Of Fuel:' Pennsylvania Largely Unaffected By Colonial Pipeline Outage
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - On average, between 600 and 800 cars come to fill up at the Parkway Service Station on Route 51 according to the owner, Tony Mazzarini.
While some people may consider panic buying at the pump following the closure of the Colonial Pipeline and gas shortages in the south, whether there will be enough for them moving forward depends significantly on the consumers themselves, he said.
Some of our supply does flow from the pipeline, the gas station owner said the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should remain unaffected by this temporary post cyber hack closure.
"We are fortunate, we can also get product from the midwest. I mean the Whiting, Indiana terminal, the largest inland terminal in the United States, and there's product available from north, south, east, and west from there," said Mazzarini.
Plus suppliers have been preparing.
"There was some buildup of product inventory because they were anticipating prices going up for the summer end because more people are driving now," he said.
However, there is one thing he fears could cause a run on gas here, panic purchases at the pump.
"Folks, relax, there's plenty of fuel in the marketplace don't cause something that doesn't need to be caused," said the owner.
Mazzarini said he hopes for better infrastructure and protection against similar cyberattacks in the future.
"It's a little concerning that one pipeline can cause this much consternation among the people," he told KDKA.
Another issue causing drivers distress is the price of gas, which the owner said is being driven by crude oil and wholesale prices, not the switch to summer from winter gas because many providers are now using a more universal blend.
Prices will likely go back down when demand dies down and that could be the end of summer, according to Mazzarini.