Governor Pat McCrory held a press conference this morning to address the gas shortage in North Carolina. McCrory announced that the construction and positioning of the repair on the leak of the Continental pipeline in Alabama has been complete as of this morning.

McCrory said once construction is successfully complete, preparations for a restart of the main fuel line will begin. Continental officials estimate completion sometime tomorrow morning.

“However it will still take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal,” Mc Crory said.

Due to the gas leak, North Carolina is currently only receiving about one third of the normal supply of fuel.

Because of the limited supply, McCrory said their primary focus remains in ensuring that emergency vehicles have the necessary fuel the need provided. For state employees, McCrory said he recommends that business’ limit unnecessary travel for their employees.

“We have also encouraged the private sector to take similar measures to encourage employees if they can to telecommunicate, where appropriate, and minimize non-essential travel,” McCrory said.

North Carolina officials are working together to eliminate any acts of price gouging as they manage to get as many tanker trucks into North Carolina as fast as possible. Reports say Attorney General Roy Cooper’s Office has received more than 1,000 reports of possible price gouging.

“We are trying to get as many trucks, we are now delivering to get to North Carolina as quick as possible, so I’ve waived many of the restrictions for trucking to get them to our state as quick as possible,” McCrory said.

During the press conference, McCrory thanked all who have worked diligently to replenish the fuel in areas that are currently out and concluded his words by recommending North Carolinians continue to limit their unnecessary travel these next few days while they work to get things back to normal.

“This is typically a short-term problem and will remain a short-term problem if we follow these guidelines,” McCrory said.

You can see a list of gas stations with and without gasoline here.