You could be paying more to fill up your car this week because of an explosion more than 1,500 km away.
All flow of gasoline has been stopped through the critical Colonial Pipeline in northern Alabama. On Monday a track hoe, a machine used to remove dirt, hit the pipeline, ignited gasoline and caused an explosion that sent flames and thick black smoke soaring over a nearby forest. One worker was killed and five were injured.
Dan McTeague with GasBuddy.com predicts it will mean a four-cent bump at the pumps in Ontario and in Quebec.
McTeague explains that the Colonial Pipeline carries 40% of all the gasoline that ends up in the gas-hungry north-eastern U.S. Without access to the tap, American wholesalers could be scrambling to meet demand, pushing up the cost of gas on both sides of the border.
"Canadian refineries don't want them coming north of the border buying gasoline, which they can do, so they raise the prices to ensure that we have adequacy of supply in our own backyard. So that could, over the next several days, mean higher prices," McTeague tells NEWSTALK 1010's Moore in the Morning.
This is week's explosion was not far from where the same pipeline sprung a leak in September. As many as 1.3 million litres of gasoline were spilled. That leak led to days of dry pumps and higher gas prices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas while repairs were made.
The cause of the leak has not been determined.
It is not clear how long-lasting the effects of the explosion might be. By Tuesday morning two wildfires sparked by the blast had eaten up 31 acres of land. Officials are trying to contain the flames while the fuel burns itself out.
with files from the Associated Press