Wednesday, May 12, 2021

How the Colonial Pipeline hack is impacting gas prices and supply

 

A cyberattack that shut down a major U.S. pipeline Friday has induced fuel shortages across much of the Southeast and highlighted cybersecurity weaknesses in the nation’s energy infrastructure.

a car parked in front of a building: A couple fills up multiple five-gallon gas tanks at a Wawa gas station in Tampa, Florida.© Octavio Jones/Reuters A couple fills up multiple five-gallon gas tanks at a Wawa gas station in Tampa, Florida.

Colonial Pipeline, which supplies the East Coast with 45 percent of its fuel, paused its service after a hacker group known as DarkSide broke into its servers and demanded money to restore access.

What happened to the gas supply?

The Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline restarted some of its service Monday amid fears of price spikes and fuel shortages. A White House task force created to respond to the crisis and the Department of Transportation temporarily relaxed fuel transport rules to make it easier to distribute gasoline.

Governors in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Florida also took steps to ease transport rules as they declared states of emergency. The situation was particularly bad in Charlotte and Atlanta, where more than half of stations were out of gas Wednesday.

As people flock to fill their tanks, the supply problem is compounded by a shortage of truck drivers to fill the gaps in service. A small portion of service stations are totally without gas.

map© The Washington Post

Have gas prices spiked?

The average price per gallon jumped 8 cents from last week to $2.98 on Tuesday, according to AAA. That is one cent away from a price not experienced since November 2014.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has warned gas station operators that federal officials will have “no tolerance for price-gouging.” She encouraged anyone who suspects it is happening in their state to contact their state attorney general’s office.

Ransomware attacks could reach ‘pandemic’ proportions. What to know after the pipeline hack.

When will the fuel shortage end?

The Southeast can expect a “crunch” in gasoline supply for the next several days, Granholm said Tuesday. At a White House news conference, she said Colonial Pipeline could make a decision on a “full restart” as soon as Wednesday evening.

The company is pushing to resume service by the end of this week.

Where can I get gas in the meantime?

Panicked drivers rushing to fill their tanks are driving unnecessary scarcity, experts said. So if you do not need fuel right away, consider waiting until supply increases in the next few days.

If you really need to fill up, the GasBuddy smartphone app will show you which stations have fuel. The website tracker.gasbuddy.com provides the same information.

Be sure to follow safety tips if you want to fill extra containers of gas. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission warned Wednesday to use only cans made for storing gasoline — not plastic bags or other storage devices. Never pour gasoline near fire, as fuel is highly flammable.

This FAQ draws on reporting from Hannah Denham, Will Englund, Rory Laverty, Ellen Nakashima and Taylor Telford.

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