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GasBuddy Tops Apple App Store Amid Gas Shortages From Colonial Pipeline Shutdown (cnbc.com) 108

Posted by BeauHD from the supply-and-demand dept.
GasBuddy, an app that helps users find and save money on gas, topped the Apple App Store on Wednesday, as some consumers across the East Coast continue to struggle to find fuel after a cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline. CNBC reports: The company's pipeline has served as a vital link between the Gulf Coast refiners and the Eastern Seaboard, but the company had to take its entire system offline Friday after it fell victim to a ransomware attack. Much of the system is still offline. Now, consumers are flocking to grab gas before tanks run out. Sixty-five percent of stations in North Carolina are out of fuel, according to data from GasBuddy. In South Carolina and Georgia, 43% of stations are without fuel, and 44% of stations are dry in Virginia, according to AAA.

Gas prices have also surged because of the supply issues and fear of shortages. On average, Americans are paying $3.008 for a gallon of gas, up from $2.985 on Tuesday and $2.927 one week ago, AAA said earlier this week. This has all led consumers to seek gas stations that have supply and potentially cheaper prices. That's where GasBuddy comes in.
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GasBuddy Tops Apple App Store Amid Gas Shortages From Colonial Pipeline Shutdown More

GasBuddy Tops Apple App Store Amid Gas Shortages From Colonial Pipeline Shutdown

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  • In the meantime (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bmimatt ( 1021295 ) on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @09:09PM (#61378900)

    Here in SoCal, we've been paying over $4.50 since early 2000's.

    • Re:In the meantime (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @09:36PM (#61378944)

      Here in SoCal, we've been paying over $4.50 since early 2000's.

      Same here in NorCal.

      The high prices in California are mostly caused by restrictions on building gas stations. We have fewer stations per capita than the rest of the country, resulting in less competition and higher prices. NIMBYs make it almost impossible to build new stations. Environmental regulations make existing stations expensive to run.

      Disclaimer: <smug> I drive an EV, so high gas prices aren't my problem. </smug>

      • Re:In the meantime (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Known Nutter ( 988758 ) on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @11:03PM (#61379100)
        Adding refining capacity in California is nearly impossible, which does not help either. It took almost 10 years of of bitching and moaning with the City of Richmond and environmental groups for Chevron to finally put online a cleaner more efficient hydrogen plant and take two 50 year old H2 trains offline.

        The California "summer blend" also contributes to increased cost at the pump. Alkylation, polymerization, and reforming process streams are more costly than the butane process streams typically used to mange octane levels.

      • Re:In the meantime (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Gavagai80 ( 1275204 ) on Thursday May 13, 2021 @02:20AM (#61379400) Homepage

        I live in NorCal (40 miles east of Sacramento), and gas is currently $3.49. Last year it got below $2. And there's a gas station practically every 5 feet. If it's $4.50 where you live, there are local conditions at work which can't be blamed on the state.

      • And these are the same legislators that argue up and down that a $20 voterID is a tax on poor people and minorities. So is a $40k EV or $4.50 gas which we also know are out of their reach. Why did CA declare such a war on minorities? The least they could do is make EVs cost $20k. Then maybe there would be a used market by now.

      • Same here in NorCal.

        The high prices in California are mostly caused by restrictions on building gas stations. We have fewer stations per capita than the rest of the country, resulting in less competition and higher prices.

        It's taxes. Gas stations make pennies per gallon on gasoline. Why do you think many of them give cash discounts? Around here nobody builds a gas only station. Nearly every new one sells food and alcohol.

        https://www.sfchronicle.com/lo... [sfchronicle.com].

      • The high prices in California are mostly caused by restrictions on building gas stations.

        Admittedly I don't have statistics in front of me, here, but when I was last in LA I ended up driving a few streets away from the nearest gas station because they wanted over $5/gal, once I got past a few office buildings the price dropped to something like $3.10.

        I'd love to see a real set of statistics (serious, I have no idea!) about gas prices in California, in my short experience they varied far too much to be blamed solely on taxes. Too many peeps willing to pay that, especially out-of-towners with an

    • It seems gas prices went up by... 8 cents?!? The east coast panics over 8 cents a gallon?
      No wait, it makes sense I think if your vehicle only gets 2 miles to the gallon...

      • Now gasoline can be the next item that dumb mulletards start to hoard. Only it's far more difficult to store in large quantities than toilet paper.

        • From what I've seen, it is being stored in garbage bags or trash cans. That will make for some interesting fireworks if it permeates/dissolves through and creates enough vapor in a garage for ignition to happen.

        • Now gasoline can be the next item that dumb mulletards start to hoard. Only it's far more difficult to store in large quantities than toilet paper.

          No, not really [9cache.com]. People will find ways [9cache.com] to do so.

      • I dont think the price is the biggest panic. Its the lines and no-fuel. Some of us remember the 70s. Our prices went up from $2.64 to over $3. Still less than in 2015/16 or 2006/7. Remember the TP fiasco this time last year? Now they are limiting purchase to reduce hoarding. 10gal per visit. But for some reason my local Meijer is suddenly out of gas canisters.

        • I've got a gas station near me that's cheap. Wouldn't take my car there for fear the gas would dissolve the engine. But at various times when the price spikes it ends up being the cheapest gasoline in the city, and the lines form up and cause huge traffic jams.

          When gas prices go up, the sales of fuel efficient cars goes up. But when the price goes down the sales of big ass SUVs and trucks goes right back up. People have amazingly short memories.

          Just drive 5 miles per hour slower and they'd save vastly m

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by e3m4n ( 947977 )
            remember that total failure of a government plan, Cash For Clunkers? The idea was to get rid of old inefficient cars and buy new ones. Too bad SUVs were what was purchased. Shoulda limited it by weight, city MPG, and size, just to be sure. Shoulda tripled the trade-in for a Chevy Volt, since they were trying to save GM as well.

            • Anyone with a clunker who needed an incentive to get rid of it would never have been able to afford an SUV, no?

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by e3m4n ( 947977 )
                one would think. But lots of things qualified. It just had to be a shitty mpg. like nearly every pickup truck ever. Or every SUV from the 90s. Its like you said, when gas is cheap, they keep buying SUVs. Cash for clunkers was 2009 during Obamas early years. Because of the housing market collapse, gas dropped from $3.45/gal average all the way down to $2/qal. Which is normal when the economy collapses and about the only thing on the road are truckers and fewer of them at that. So at $2/gal and cash-for-clunk

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by e3m4n ( 947977 )
            oh btw, speed is a function of car design. My car gets worse mileage at 60 than it does at 75. Aerodynamics create different sweet spots for different car shapes. An SUV looks like a giant brick, so no wonder its more drag on a near linear increase. Of course switching to diesel, I get close to 50mpg on the highway even when doing 80. At 85 it starts to drop off down to 43.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
      Could be in Netherlands and paying $8.12/gallon...

    • The citizens chose their taxation level to fund (vital in the richest most economically important US state) transportation.

      The massive wealth of California means those fuel prices shouldn't hurt (and most price hunting is more compulsive behavior than economic compulsion, it's not all that much money unless you drive an Expedition or Hummer in which case you can afford it anyway).

      CA has enormous, complex needs lesser states do not and an exploding growth rate lesser states do not. It may as well be a differ

    • Re:In the meantime (Score:4, Interesting)

      by The123king ( 2395060 ) on Thursday May 13, 2021 @04:10AM (#61379536)
      Hi from the UK, you petrol is cheap. We pay about £1.30 per litre. That's approximately $8 per gallon.

      • It's 6.9 USD

        That's pretty approximate

        But yes, we do pay less for fuel than you do. Endless war had to be good for something

    • Here in Europe we've been paying $7.50US / gallon for a long time. And hence we're aren't as wasteful with gasoline.

      • I once saw statistics showing that European gasoline is more expensive PER GALLON as you indicate, but cheaper PER PERSON, because with denser cities and better public transportation, the average person needs to drive much shorter distances, making the per capita gasoline expense lower.

        • Funny story I calculated the cost of driving my car the past 6 month at $80/km. Though I have now bought a solar battery tender for it, so that should bring the price down as I don't need to buy a new battery every time I go drive it.

          Not a joke, my car has done 17 km since it's last service in September, and 1 of those km was driving it back from the garage. Bicycle and public transport everywhere. I do wonder at what point I just give up and sell it but I'm not sure what will happen post COVID. Right now I

    • i wonder why they can't develop a mode of transport that can be replenished at home.... oh wait...

  • Guess that restart [nbcnews.com] was a failure.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      You suckers are being scammed, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news... [msn.com], awfully convenient hack to blame the shutdown on. Forget all about the shoddy maintenance and apparently a pipeline ready to break down all over the place.

      No, it wasn't the profiteering cutting of maintenance that caused a massive problem and the pipe needed to be shutdown before a major failure, it was the hackers, see, they caused the shutdown. So contracted ransomware, with no intention of ever paying the ransom. Nope, nope, nope, the shut

      • Re:Have you turned it off, and on again? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by slack_justyb ( 862874 ) on Thursday May 13, 2021 @12:20AM (#61379250)

        it was the hackers, see, they caused the shutdown.

        I get your sarcasm but in all honesty, the hackers don't even have to be super skilled. Just two weeks ago someone found eight open SCADA systems sitting on open VNCs passwordless [imgur.com]. The addresses were well documented on Shodan and lo and behold. Some Redditor had full access to an oil field. And this wasn't the first time for someone to find open SCADA on the Internet [imgur.com].

        They x'ed out the IPs but you can literally take this much, search port 5800/5900 on Shodan and confirm these sitting out there.

        XXX:XXX.XXX.155:5800 (Texas)
        XXX:XXX.XXX.106:5800 (San Diego)
        XXX:XXX.XXX.183:5800 (Colorado)
        XXX:XXX.XXX.184:5800 (Colorado)
        XXX:XXX.XXX.185:5800 (Colorado)
        XXX:XXX.XXX.112:5900 (Chicago)
        XXX:XXX.XXX.142:5900 (Chicago)

        So you can go with whatever conspiracy theory you'd like. But the reality is our systems are unsecure AF. And yes, the hole was reported to CISA [cisa.gov] and the systems all come from an Israeli contractor that's had a history of leaving ports and VNC open on the Internet.

  • As a Californian.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by sconeu ( 64226 ) on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @09:19PM (#61378924) Homepage Journal

    On average, Americans are paying $3.008 for a gallon of gas

    Please accept my crocodile tears, while I say boo-f***ing-hoo.

    • Re:As a Californian.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @09:46PM (#61378952) Homepage Journal

      A thousand times this.

      If anybody ever wanted absolute proof that gasoline prices do not follow the law of supply and demand in any meaningful sense, it would be the fact that California gas prices for belly wash gasoline were over $4 before this crisis on the other coast, and yet when half the gas stations in South Carolina are out of gasoline, their prices are still averaging only $2.82. Even factoring in the 26.5 cent per gallon difference in the gas tax, that's not the way a free market works.

      The market is broken.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Entrope ( 68843 )

        California is not exactly known for free markets. Don't blame the rest of us because California broke its market.

        Also, what is belly wash gasoline?

        • What you talking about Willis? California markets are every bit as free as in South Carolina. Think of a concrete example rather than just repeating what some goofball conservative talk show host spews out.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Entrope ( 68843 )

            What does the phrase "California emissions" mean to you?

            • It means they like clean air. If you were in LA in the 90's you'd know why. But what does it have to do with gas prices?

              • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

                by not_mchurch ( 7306306 )

                But what does it have to do with gas prices?

                CA has different gas blends than the rest of the country because of "california emissions". CA regulates gas stations more heavily, again, because of "california emissions". the first makes california gas more expensive to produce, the latter makes the gas station's overhead higher. that's what "california emissions" have to do with gas prices.

                • But what does it have to do with gas prices?

                  CA has different gas blends than the rest of the country because of "california emissions". CA regulates gas stations more heavily, again, because of "california emissions".

                  the first makes california gas more expensive to produce, the latter makes the gas station's overhead higher. that's what "california emissions" have to do with gas prices.

                  A ton of states are like this. PA has a different "blend" than Ohio and PA even has a summer and winter gasoline.

              • But what does it have to do with gas prices?

                California requires unique gas blends when compared to the rest of the US. As a result they've managed to both require a gasoline that is more expensive to refine, and to cut themselves off from the market for gasoline that is operating in most of the US.

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by dgatwood ( 11270 )

                  New York City has the same gasoline requirements as California [epa.gov]. Their gas prices are averaging more than a dollar less than California. That's an excuse.

                • That doesn't mean California is not a free market. Claiming that California doesn't have a free market is as stupid as the idiot on the TV who referred to the major news outlets as pro-communist media. When the far right loses their appeal to the average voter they seem to resort to bigger exaggerations and outright lies in desperation.

          • Clearly you know nothing about running a business in California.

        • Re:As a Californian.... (Score:4, Informative)

          by PolygamousRanchKid ( 1290638 ) on Thursday May 13, 2021 @05:26AM (#61379626)

          Also, what is belly wash gasoline?

          belly-wash in American English. (beliw, -w) slang. any barely drinkable liquid or beverage, as inferior soda, beer, coffee, or soup.

          • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

            by Entrope ( 68843 )

            Poor Californians. No wonder they think their markets are as free as elsewhere -- they've been drinking gasoline.

      • Re:As a Californian.... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by CrappySnackPlane ( 7852536 ) on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @10:31PM (#61379034)

        that's not the way a free market works

        What? No, that's exactly how a free market works.

        An African orphan may be in way more dire need of food than a 500lb Slashdot commenter, but the latter will pay more for a Big Mac. Which illustrates why free markets need some amount of regulation and fingers strategically placed on scales - subsidies, welfare, etc - in order to ensure resources can go to those who need them, not just who can pay the most for them.

        The average gas price in California, per Triple-A [aaa.com], is $4.11. That's 0.0055% of the median household income in California.

        The average gas price in South Carolina is $2.82. That's 0.0053% of the median household income in South Carolina.

        Please accept my crocodile tears while I say boo-fucking-hoo to California's 0.0002% costlier gasoline.

        Gas station owners also need to live somewhere.

        $4.11 is 0.3874% of the average monthly rent on a studio apartment in California, per RentData.org
        $2.82 is 0.432% of the average monthly rent on a studio apartment in South Carolina, per RentData.org

        $4.11 is 0.000628% of the average home price in California, per Zillow.
        $2.82 is 0.001302% of the average home price in South Carolina, per Zillow.

        Here, we find South Carolina to be either twice as expensive or merely "appreciably-more-expensive", depending on whether we're looking to rent or to own.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hey! ( 33014 )

        The law of supply and demand doesn't come into it; you can't validly connect prices in California and the East Coast for three reasons:

        (1) The California and East Coast are *separate* gas markets; it's not like you can redirect your gas supply from LA to Charleston.

        (2) This is a response to a transient event, and prices in economic theory do not reach a new equilibrium *instantaneously*.

        (3) There are laws against raising gasoline "price gouging" in most states, a legacy of the 1970s Energy Crisis. Nonethel

        • Re:As a Californian.... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Thursday May 13, 2021 @12:13AM (#61379232) Homepage Journal

          The law of supply and demand doesn't come into it; you can't validly connect prices in California and the East Coast for three reasons:

          (1) The California and East Coast are *separate* gas markets; it's not like you can redirect your gas supply from LA to Charleston.

          How do you figure? There's a products (gasoline / propane / jet fuel) pipeline from greater Houston all the way to SF (well, technically, four pipelines in sequence — C29 to C19 to C27 to C26), and a similar pipeline from greater Houston up to NYC (C22). So if someone wanted to do so, there's no reason in principle that some of the California-grade gasoline that's being sent to NYC couldn't be sent to any part of California and vice versa. The way I look at it, that makes it a national market.

          If the exact same gasoline can be brought up from greater Houston through that products pipeline to either NYC or California (and I mean the exact same formulation rules as CA and everything, unless I'm misunderstanding the EPA rules), then it's really hard to explain fuel in CA costing one third more despite only a ~7 cent per gallon difference in the tax. And it only gets more insane when you consider southern states, where the prices are even lower.

          No, it's high in California because southern refineries aren't even pretending to compete to bring prices down.

          (2) This is a response to a transient event, and prices in economic theory do not reach a new equilibrium *instantaneously*.

          I'd expect the needle to move a lot more than it did, though, even with price gouging laws. You can't do something obscene like charge $15 a gallon, but I'd have expected them to be reaching California levels. And lest you say that this is unfair to people who can't afford it, the reality is that by not raising prices, you're risking the people who genuinely have to have gasoline not being able to get it at any price, whereas by letting the price rise within reason, people who have a choice will cut their usage. It's the way a free market would normally react. A 2% increase for a 50% shortage makes zero sense.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by SirSlud ( 67381 )

        You apparently don't know what a market is, which makes me question your ability to evaluate the health of one.

    • People need to learn to ignore us more often. We’re literally the land of self promotion. We get too much attention people shouldn’t care about us so much

  • For the last damn time (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @09:26PM (#61378934)

    For the last damn time, the shortage is not because of the colonial pipeline shutdown. The shortage is because of the idiotic panic buying whipped up by the media, which didn't even report on it until 3 days after it happened. But, when they did, it was all FUD all the time to get people to go out and cause this panic.

    • Re:For the last damn time (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @09:44PM (#61378950)

      The shortage is because of the idiotic panic buying whipped up by the media

      The shortage is also caused by idiotic "profiteering" laws that remove incentives to alleviate the shortage.

      • The shortage is also...

        over. The shortage is also over. I'm in the Southeast, and I'm looking at Gasbuddy all the way up the East Coast and it's green the entire way.

        The great Gasoline Apocalypse lasted one whole day, to the great dismay of Republicans who were looking to score points against Biden.

        • Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll find another reason to raise gas prices soon enough. Then your favorite president will be all over the media again.

        • It was an interesting 'trial run' for a _real_ supply shock though.

          And as a trial run, things didn't work out too well.

      • The shortage is also caused by idiotic "profiteering" laws that remove incentives to alleviate the shortage.

        The proper way to deal with hoarding is by enacting quantity limits. Affordable gas is important so all the wage slaves can get to the jobs that you'd rather be done by someone else. Unless you want to flip your own damn burgers, I guess.

         

      • you mean like buying even bigger "trucks" ?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )
      No joke. I loved the pictures I saw last night of idiots filling up trash bags (!!), plastic storage boxes, trash cans, or the guy with 4 fucking 55 gallon drums. I wonder what the uptick in google searches for "how do I get the gasoline smell out of my car's trunk" or "what happens when my car is destroyed in fire" is going to be over the next week.
  • When you haven't been coal-rolled all week.

  • All those are locations where I can imagine survivalists and hobby farmers hoarding gas. Does that make me racist?

  • zzz (Score:2)

    by godrik ( 1287354 )

    I don't need to drive anywhere and I have a full tank of gas. I'll be fine.

  • The only thing that is missing is hostages in Iran.

  • I do wish you people would stop calling it "gas". All this time I have been thinking it was an actual gas pipeline, but it seems to be gasoline.

  • I bought gas this evening in the upper midwest. No line, and I paid less than $2.90 per gallon for regular. I hope it gets better for them, but it's worth noting that this is leaving a lot of people and states completely untouched.
  • "Surged" by 8 cents??
  • Whoever hacked / ransomwared this pipeline achieved their goals - mass panic as people queued and hoarded gasoline like fools because of a temporary disruption. Hopefully the US government (and other governments) draw a lesson from this and compel key infrastructure to have adequate defenses and mitigations in place for similar forms of attack.
  • ... and earn less. Cheap solution, drive less and bike and walk more.
  • In 2021, gasoline is the new toilet paper.
  • Then again, I drive a Tesla, so I'm just hoping the power grid doesn't fail. And if it does, I have more to worry about than charging a car.

  • This story seems to be "make news". Especially this part, "Gas prices have also surged because of the supply issues and fear of shortages.".

    The price increased from $2.927 to $3.008 a whopping 8.1 cents. Really? Surging? Where I live gas prices routinely fluctuate up to 6 cents due to speculative trading alone.

    I can see that someone not used to price fluctuations would see this as extraordinary, but you can also look at the price change as a percentage. Gas increased by less than 3%. When was the last tim

  • In a country where they connect 'important' stuff to the internet without proper security measures, one should prepare.
    In this case, it was better to drive a diesel.
    It is even better to drive a diesel on vegetable oil.

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