On Wednesday Colonial Pipeline resumed fuel distribution and this Saturday reported that the pipeline is fully operational, eight days after the supply was interrupted by a cyberattack .
The Colonial pipeline is supplying “millions of gallons per hour”, according to the company, however, it will still be several days before the gas stations on the east coast and the southeast of the country will return to offer their services normally after more than 1, 800 gas stations are ran out of fuel .
Gasoline prices at service stations seem to have stabilized in the states that were most affected such as South Carolina and Tennessee where the price s It only increased a penny this Saturday, according to a report from the AAA motorist club.
Until this weekend the average price of gasoline remained at $ 3. 04 dollars , eight cents more than a week ago. In the states most affected by fuel shortages the price of gasoline rose 20 pennies this past week .
As we previously reported, Colonial Pipeline initiated the restart of pipeline operations at approximately 5 pm ET on Wednesday, May 12. Since that time, we have returned the system to normal operations, delivering millions of gallons per hour to the markets we serve. pic.twitter.com/UJG7SqUxSQ
– Colonial Pipeline (@Colpipe) May 15, 2021
The pipeline, which is one of the largest in the country, transports refined gasoline and jet fuel along 5, 500 miles of pipelines from Texas to the east coast of the United States arriving in New York. After the pipeline was closed a week ago triggered a wave of panic buying starting on Tuesday . Most of the gas stations registered long lines while the drivers filled the tank of their vehicles.
The FBI linked the cyber attack to an Eastern European criminal group called DarkSide . The attack was directed at the information systems of the Colonial Pipeline company, blocking the systems and hijacking computer data. The company paid criminals about $ 5 million in bitcoin to get back your stolen data.
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