The shutdown of a portion of the Colonial Pipeline, which provides about 40 percent of the South’s gasoline, should not cause a spike in gas prices, an official said Thursday.

AAA Alabama Spokesman Clay Ingram said only a portion of the 5,500-mile pipeline — from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Texas — is closed. There is still some fuel flowing through the pipeline from Lake Charles to point east.

Ingram also dispelled rumors the pipeline is damaged. He explained refineries in Texas are simply underwater and shut down a portion of the pipeline until the water recedes. And just because there’s less fuel in the pipeline doesn’t mean gas won’t be coming in from other sources like barges, railcars and tractor-trailers.

“There’s gas being brought into the southeast by a lot of different methods,” he said.

Still, prices at the pump have surged in some locations. The average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose from about $2.35 a week ago to $2.45 now, AAA reported. The price spike is more dramatic in some states such as Georgia, where the average cost per gallon of regular gas has climbed from $2.22 a week ago to $2.39 now.

Alabama’s average Thursday was $2.21, up from Wednesday’s average of $2.16. Gas prices in Athens ranged Thursday from $2.09-per-gallon to $2.19-per-gallon, according to gasbuddy.com.

“As soon as Texas gets back on its feet and can get some of the floodwaters gone and can crank the refineries back up again, those prices should come back down,” Ingram said. “There will be plenty of gas to pump (through the pipeline).”

Gas prices may rise slightly in Alabama, but prices generally tend to rise around the Labor Day travel holiday. Even with the holiday and the portion of the pipeline closed, Ingram said drivers should not see prices above the $2.39-per-gallon mark.

“If you’re seeing gas close to $2.50, go somewhere else,” he said. “It should be pointed out that normally, in a natural disaster situation, most retailers and wholesalers will take a pay cut to keep their prices from going up too much. Some may drop their profit margin from 8 cents per gallon to 4 cents per gallon. Most of them try to do the right thing when there’s a natural disaster.”

Ingram explained the worst thing Alabamians can do is panic buy, which can snowball into a situation where there are needless shortages. He again stressed there would not be a disruption in the state’s supply and urged drivers to simply buy as little as they need over the next two weeks.

Ingram said he would not be surprised to see gas dip back below the $2-per-gallon mark this fall.

Labor Day travel

AAA did not provide a travel projection for this Labor Day weekend, but Ingram predicted there could be a healthy amount of traffic on the state’s roads. Despite what could be a stormy weekend, some families may want to hit the beach one last time this summer, while others are traveling to Atlanta or Auburn for the kickoff of the college football season.

“With our other holiday travel periods, we’ve seen an increase of 1 to 3 percent over previous year, and I think we’re likely to see that (with Labor Day),” Ingram said.