Charlotte gas prices rise again Saturday, as shortage lingers from ransomware attack
Analysts reported little relief in Charlotte and the rest of the Carolinas on Saturday morning from the fuel shortage caused by the Colonial Pipeline Co. hack.
But the number of stations with no fuel in their pumps was expected to improve throughout the day, Patrick De Haanof GasBuddy.com said.
“First gas outage readings this AM don’t show much improvement but it’s early on a Saturday and stations that got refueled overnight may not be reported yet,” De Haan said on Twitter at 9 a.m.
“So look for improvement in our next update potentially as updated reports come in,” he said.
At 1 p.m., 61% of N.C. gas stations had no fuel, according to De Haan, a strong improvement from 68% at 9 a.m.
The average price of unleaded in Charlotte rose to $2.910 on Saturday, from $2.899 on Friday and $2.691 a week ago, according to AAA.
North Carolina averaged $2.925 for unleaded gas on Saturday morning, compared with 3.042 nationally, AAA reported.
The ransomware attack that targeted Colonial Pipeline last Friday forced the shutdown of the 5,550-mile pipeline that delivers 45 % of fuel to the Southeast and along the East Coast. The FBI on Monday blamed the attack on DarkSide, a group of Eastern European hackers, McClatchy News reported.
