The American pipeline network "Colonial Pipeline," which was shut down due to a cyberattack, announced on Thursday that it has resumed fuel deliveries. However, gas stations across various areas of the East Coast continue to face shortages following a wave of panic buying by consumers. Concerned drivers from Florida to Maryland have been lining up at gas stations in an attempt to fill their tanks, causing the national average price to rise above $3 per gallon for the first time since late 2014, despite government efforts to alleviate the supply crisis.
Colonial Pipeline stated early Thursday that it has made "significant progress" in resuming deliveries after announcing on Wednesday that it began restarting its network. The company reported, "Deliveries have started in the majority of the markets we serve. By midday today, we expect that all markets we serve will receive supply from our system." The company also noted that some lines, including those in Virginia, would not see supply returns until later on Thursday.
Fuel ran out at more than half of the gas stations in Virginia after a surge of customers filled their tanks, according to data published by the specialized site "Gas Buddy." Georgia faced a similar level of shortage, but the situation has improved in several other states. Patrick De Haan, an oil analyst at Gas Buddy, tweeted, "Things are calming down now with some improvement. It will take two weeks/a few weeks for the shortage levels to return to zero."
Colonial Pipeline shut down its network after a cyberattack on its computer systems late Friday. The company operates the largest fuel pipeline system in the United States, transporting gasoline and jet fuel from the Gulf Coast of Texas to the densely populated East Coast through 8,850 kilometers of pipelines that serve 50 million consumers. The government temporarily waived clean air regulations and shipping and trucking transport rules to expedite fuel delivery to affected areas.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated on CNBC on Thursday that President Joe Biden directed the government "to do everything we can to respond to this incident," providing fuel suppliers with necessary flexibility. De Haan warned that prices could remain elevated for some time, especially with the upcoming Memorial Day weekend—the traditional start of the U.S. summer travel season. He confirmed that "the situation will definitely take some time to improve and will do so slowly due to the high number of outages and the number of stations that need to be resupplied."
