Lowcountry gas watch: Sticker shock at the pump? Blame Hurricane Harvey. Here’s why

Has it been getting more expensive to fill up your car? You have Hurricane Harvey to thank for that, WBTW reports. The storm that brutalized the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana for most of last week damaged a key pipeline that supplies gas to the Southern states.

Colonial Pipeline, which operates the pipeline, originally predicted it would be back up and running by Sunday. That prediction has since changed to Tuesday, WBTW reports.

Roughly 40 percent of the South’s gasoline comes from Coastal Pipeline, reports WBTW, and with supply dropping drastically as demand stays the same, prices have skyrocketed.

The national average for a gallon of gas is now $2.62, that is up nearly 30 cents a gallon from where it was just two weeks ago, according to AAA.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, the average is $2.51, which is cheaper than many states, but way up from two weeks ago, when it was only $2.06, according to AAA.

It doesn’t help that in addition to the pipeline issues, nine Texas refineries that supply Colonial were closed owing to Harvey, WBTW reports.

Closed refineries in the Gulf region have decreased the region’s capacity by roughly 24 percent, and decreased capacity nationwide by nearly 13 percent, according to WBTW.

This story was originally published September 3, 2017 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Lowcountry gas watch: Sticker shock at the pump? Blame Hurricane Harvey. Here’s why."