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- A ransomware cyber-attack forced Colonial Pipeline to shut down the main part of its network on Friday. The 5,500-mile (8,900km) pipeline usually carries 2.5 million barrels a day on the East Coast. The closure saw supplies tighten across the US, with prices rising and a number of states declaring an emergency.
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May 7, 2023 · On May 7, 2021, a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline captured headlines around the world with pictures of snaking lines of cars at gas stations across the eastern seaboard and panicked Americans filling bags with fuel, fearful of not being able to get to work or get their kids to school.
May 12, 2021 · The Colonial Pipeline hack that shut down the major gasoline and jet fuel pipeline to large swaths of the South and the East Coast is leading to temporary shortages.
- Overview
- Charging $5.99 a gallon at some pumps
Motorists alarmed by rising gasoline prices and fears of supplies running low are flocking to gas stations in the Southeast as the impact of a ransomware attack that crippled the country's biggest fuel pipeline ripples across the region. Relief, however, is on its way, with Colonial Pipeline saying gasoline is being shipped to nearly all of its markets.
Fuel should be flowing again as the company restarts operations in a process expected to take several days to a week for a full return to normal, easing the supply strain that's particularly acute in southern Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.
President Joe Biden offered assurances that Americans would soon see the long lines for gas lessening as the pipeline company started its recovery from a cyberattack that forced its systems offline last week.
"They should be reaching full operational capacity as we speak, as I speak to you right now. That is good news," the president said on Thursday. "But I want to be clear. You will not feel the affects at the pump immediately. This is not like flicking on a light switch, said Mr. Biden, who noted there are 5,000 miles of pipeline to bring back into commission.
Mr. Biden also urged Americans not to panic and gas stations to refrain from price gouging. He declined to comment on a report from Bloomberg that Colonial Pipeline paid hackers a $5 million ransom.
Georgia based-Colonial on Thursday said fuel deliveries are now underway in most of its markets. Gas is flowing again across most of the Deep South, while the company expects the part of the pipeline serving the Mid-Atlantic region to become operational later Thursday.
The return of $3 a gallon gas signals "things are slowly returning to normal" as the pandemic begins easing in the U.S., Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said Wednesday in a statement. "In this case, rising gas prices are a sign Americans are getting back out into the world — attending baseball games, going to concerts, taking a road trip — basically staying anywhere but at home."
That step towards normalcy was jolted by last Friday's cyberattack against the pipeline, which supplies about 4% of the East Coast's fuel needs. The FBI has said DarkSide, a criminal ransomware group based in Eastern Europe, is behind the attack.
After the attack, the governors of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia — where the Colonial Pipeline is a key source of fuel — declared states of emergency. The moves coincided with spurts of panic buying and pushed prices at the pump higher.
Social media quickly offered visual illustrations of hoarding by motorists, despite pleas from experts that it would only worsen the situation for everyone.
Hours after Virginia's emergency declaration, Lether Kerney took an unexpected hit after pulling into a BP Gas station in Richmond. "It was a lot of people there, no one looked at the price," Kerney told a local CBS affiliate.
Unaware the gas station was charging $5.99 per gallon, or twice the national average, Kerney spent double what she normally would. "I had half a tank of gas, so when it got to $25 I started looking to see what was going on. And after I got to $30, I was like, 'Oh my God! I spent $35.45 to fill up my tank. Six gallons of gas for $35. That's absolutely ridiculous."
- 4 min
- Kate Gibson,Megan Cerullo
May 12, 2021 · The Colonial Pipeline shutdown sent motorists across the Southeast scrambling for gas, even as state and federal officials warn against panic-buying and price gouging. The pipeline provides...
- Rachel Treisman
Apr 26, 2022 · The Colonial Pipeline was the victim of a ransomware attack in May 2021. It infected some of the pipeline's digital systems, shutting it down for several days. The shutdown affected consumers and airlines along the East Coast. The hack was deemed a national security threat, as the pipeline moves oil from refineries to industry markets.
- Sean Michael Kerner
- 3 min
May 10, 2021 · Washington CNN — One of the largest US fuel pipelines remained largely paralyzed Monday after a ransomware cyberattack forced the temporary shutdown of all operations late last week – an incident...
May 8, 2021 · The operator of the system, Colonial Pipeline, said in a vaguely worded statement late Friday that it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which it says carries 45 percent of the East...
