HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – We all know the drill. You hear gas could be in short supply and before you know it, there’s a line out into the roadway with people waiting to fill up. Experts say that is the number one no-no.

“It’s really in the hands of the motorists: if they run out and everyone fills up, it’s really going to be a big problem. But if people just go about their lives as normal, we may not see as many outages, and it may not be as severe,” said Patrick DeHaan, Senior Petroleum Analyst.

That’s your warning. The more people that go to fill up out of fear, the quicker the supply depletes, and the lower the supply means: “Prices go up when supply goes down and you’ll start to see prices go up,” said DeHaan.

Now fortunately, experts at Gas Buddy aren’t projecting it to be a big price increase. Just 24 hours after the pipeline cut off, they say prices have only fluctuated 5 to 10 cents per gallon.

Pipeline 2 was reopened on Tuesday morning, which will help with moving some gas across the country. So experts say now is not the time to panic. “In situations like this there will always be gasoline, it’s just a matter of getting it to the market. And if motorists can just be patient and try to conserve gasoline, that will mean there is less depletion,” said Dehaan.

Because remember: “If supply depletes quickly, prices will go up quickly.”

Dehaan added it’s too early to tell if the shortage will last into holiday travel season.