Colonial Pipeline now estimated to reopen Monday or Tuesday

Repairs to a pipeline that was damaged during Hurricane Harvey won't be finished until Monday or Tuesday, according to a press release from the Colonial Pipeline Company. The Colonial Pipeline was originally planned to reopen Sunday.

The Colonial Pipeline provides gasoline to nearly 40 percent of the South. On Thursday, Pipelines west of Lake Charles, Louisiana were shutdown due to damage from Harvey. As a result, gas prices have spiked here in North Carolina and in other southern states.

Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency Thursday to waive certain gasoline delivery restrictions to help North Carolina maintain gas supplies.

According to the company, crews are working on final repairs to ensure the integrity of the pipeline between Houston, Texas and Herbert, Louisiana.

The pipeline is estimated to restart between Houston and Herbert on Monday for distillates and on Tuesday for gasoline.

Governor Roy Cooper has declared a state of emergency in wake of the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.

The pipeline moves nearly 40% of the gasoline here in the South, and was turned off because of Hurricane Harvey.

"Hurricane Harvey's damage to refineries in Texas and Louisiana could ripple throughout the southeast, causing gasoline shortages and rising prices," Gov. Cooper said. "I'm taking action to make it easier to get gasoline into our state so North Carolinians who need gas can get it."

The emergency declaration waives the maximum hours that truckers can travel in North Carolina carrying fuel. Cooper says the state's price gouging law against overcharging is now in effect for the next 45 days.

A year ago, a leak and gas spill in Alabama that closed the Colonial Pipeline led to days of empty gas station pumps and higher prices in the state.

A Colonial spokesman says they hope the pipeline can resume carrying fuel through Texas by Sunday.

Already, gas prices have shot up in Eastern Carolina with some stations charging $2.55 a gallon.

A company that operates a pipeline that moves nearly 40 percent of the South's gasoline estimates that it will resume carrying fuel through Texas by Sunday.

Steve Baker, a spokesman for Colonial Pipeline, said Thursday that the pipeline is underwater in parts of Texas dealing with flooding from Harvey and that those sections would have to be inspected before it could resume operating. But he says the pipeline is still operating from Louisiana to the eastern states, though deliveries will be "intermittent."

Reopening the shuttered Texas sections of pipeline could help avoid major gas shortages, but huge challenges remain, as several giant Texas refineries were shut down due to the storm.

All of these problems have sent gasoline prices surging. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has risen from about $2.35 a week ago to $2.45 now.

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Colonial Pipeline says it plans to shut down a key line that supplies gasoline to the South due to storm-related refinery shutdowns and Harvey's effect on its facilities west of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The Georgia-based company said in a statement that it expects to shut off the line Thursday. The company had already closed down another line that transports primarily diesel and aviation fuels.

The pipeline provides nearly 40 percent of the South's gasoline.

In September 2016, a leak and gas spill in Alabama that closed the Colonial Pipeline led to days of empty gas station pumps and higher prices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.

The company didn't say how long it expects the closure to last, saying it will know more when workers can evaluate its facilities.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)