The largest fuel pipeline in the US restarted its entire system after a cyberattack nearly a week ago, but said it would take several days for the supply chain to return to normal.
Colonial Pipeline Co has started delivering products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to all of the markets it serves, the pipeline operator said in a statement on Thursday, but some areas might experience service interruptions during the restart process.
The system, which transports products from Gulf Coast refineries as far north as New York, is running at less than half of capacity, people familiar with the matter said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Earlier, it emerged that the operating company last week paid almost US$5 million in untraceable cryptocurrency to eastern European hackers to help get gasoline and jet fuel flowing again along the eastern seaboard.
Fuel shortages from Florida to Virginia continue, and Colonial said that its system is about five-and-a-half days behind its current schedule.
In a message to filling stations, US President Joe Biden said in a White House briefing on Thursday: “Do not — I repeat, do not — try to take advantage of consumers during this time.”
The attack on Colonial occurred just weeks before the US Memorial Day Holiday and the start of the summer driving season, with many Americans expected to eagerly take to the roads and the skies.
Earlier in the week, average US pump prices surged above US$3 a gallon for the first time in six years as motorists raced to fill tanks.
US gasoline futures were US$2.0938 per gallon early yesterday after dropping 3 percent on Thursday.
More than half of stations in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina were still without fuel on Thursday, according to retail-tracker GasBuddy.
In Miami, an area not even directly fed by the pipeline, nearly 40 percent of stations were without gasoline.
Hospitals, railroads and ambulance services that rely on fuel for generators are the main priority as supply trickles in, said Cheryl Waters, president of Atlanta Fuel Company, which services customers in states including Georgia, North Carolina and east Alabama.
She said that it would probably take 10 to 14 days for her company’s operations to return to normal.
“We’re just being very careful with who we sell our fuel to,” Waters said. “We’re saving it back for our essential businesses.”
While Colonial works to resume normal operations, it said that some line segments were operated manually and might be ahead of the estimated delay.
Amid the constraints, fuel traders were even paying each other extra to gain access to the pipeline, the first time that has happened since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued an alert to New Yorkers concerning potential gasoline price gouging and urged people to report dramatic price increases.
“Don’t panic,” Biden said on Thursday. “I know seeing lines at the pumps or gas stations with no gas can be extremely stressful, but this is a temporary situation. Do not get more gas than you need the next few days.”
Biden also said that the pipeline should be reaching full capacity soon.
Meanwhile, a top US energy regulator said that gaps in pipeline cybersecurity must be filled following the Colonial attack.
“We need to improve our cybersecurity standards and requirements to keep up with these evolving threats, especially as they relate to our critical infrastructure,” Neil Chatterjee, a commissioner and former chairman at the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Thursday.
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