WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Drivers in our area may be seeing a rise in gas prices.
"I live right across from Sheetz. One day it's $3, The next day is $3.09, the day after that, it's $3.19. Come on. Who's gouging who? There's no reason for it," said Joe Heiser of Wilkes-Barre Township.
AAA says gas prices are likely to climb this week because of the Colonial Pipeline shut down by a cyberattack. That pipeline primarily services areas including Mississippi, Tennessee, and the east coast from Georgia into Delaware.
Heiser was filling up this tank for his lawnmower. He thinks prices are rising here because more and more people are buying gas out of panic.
"I saw another guy come in with two five-gallon, 10-gallon cans filling in. I don't know. It's just like the toilet paper. Everybody's hoarding their gas now," added Heiser.
A large gasoline supplier in our area tells Newswatch 16 its supply is not affected by the cyberattack because it gets its gasoline from a different pipeline, but it did tell us it's busy right now as more and more people are going to the pump because they're afraid of shortages down the line.
"There's no reason to panic. The people, unfortunately that have a long distance to travel for work are the ones that need it. But for me, I'm retired. I don't have to go anywhere. If I want to go to a grocery store, I can walk next door to Sam's," said Heiser.
AAA says it will continue to monitor the effects of the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, but in the meantime, urges people against panic-buying of gasoline.