US gas prices surge to seven-year high on fifth day of DarkSide cyber shutdown of Colonial Pipeline: Fuel distributors warn of catastrophic shortages as Putin denies link to hackers
The national average for retail gasoline prices was at $2.985 as of Tuesday, which is the highest in seven years
The last time average gas prices were above $2.99 was back in November 2014
Colonial Pipeline has said it is trying to substantially restore operations by the end of the week but reports of gas shortages are already emerging
Fears of a looming shortage have already prompted panic buying with gas stations in various cities already running out of fuel or restricting sales
We Ran Out of Fuel on the East Coast
With the Colonial Pipeline shut down due to last week’s ransom hacking, the Eastern United States has found itself running out of fuel. The line was shut down on Friday as a precaution and we’ve since learned that it’s not going to be reopened until this weekend and maybe not even then.
While this has left some of us with fuel prices creeping aggressively toward $3 per gallon, other parts of the East Coast have seen panic buying and legitimate outages. But it’s hardly surprising when you consider the Colonial Pipeline is the country’s largest. Turning off the tap has ramifications and they’re manifesting all across the coast, though the situation appears to be substantially worse in southern states.Â
Ralph Northam and Brian Kemp, governors of Virginia and Georgia, declared a state of emergency Tuesday
On Monday the governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, took a similar step to deal with the fuel crisis
The moves are designed to limit the fallout from the Colonial Pipeline hack, which began on Thursday
The pipeline was shut from Friday to Monday due to a ransomware attack from Russia-based hackers
The 5,500-mile pipeline is being brought back on line but service will not be fully restored until end of week
The national average for retail gasoline was $2.985 on Tuesday - a seven-year high
Motorists across a broad swath of the U.S. East Coast and South are struggling to find gasoline and diesel as filling stations run dry amid the unprecedented pipeline disruption caused by a criminal hack.
From Virginia to Louisiana, convenience stores and corner gas stations are turning away customers as tanks tap out amid panic buying. The White House relaxed some environmental rules in a bid to allow gasoline to flow in from other parts of the country.
One Washington D.C.-area fuel distributor warned that “catastrophic” shortages are imminent and called on government officials to order school buses to stay off the roads.
Why will it take a WEEK to fix the Colonial Pipeline? America s biggest fuel pipeline is still days away from resuming full operations after falling victim to DarkSide cyberattack
Colonial Pipeline says it is still days away from resuming full operations after falling victim to the DarkSide cyberattack last Friday
Gas prices have already spiked to a seven-year high and reports of gas shortages and panic buying are emerging up and down the East Coast
As the shutdown nears its sixth day, it is still unclear why it is taking so long for Colonial to return to business as usual