Pa. gasoline stations aren’t seeing shortages, but companies urge drivers to avoid ‘panic buying’
Updated May 13, 2021;
Posted May 12, 2021
Bags cover gas pumps in Southside, Ala., as a station has been affected by shortages brought on by the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (William Thornton / wthornton@al.com)
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Government and industry officials reiterated Wednesday that there is no gasoline shortage but that “panic buying” of gasoline has resulted in shortages at some gas stations on the East Coast, and officials are asking motorists to only buy as much gasoline as they need.
This comes after a cyberattack last week on the Colonial Pipeline, the nation’s largest fuel pipeline caused it to shut down its operations on Friday. Hackers linked to Russia locked up computer systems and demanded a ransom to release them.
As for the gas lines, it’s not clear when distribution on the East Coast will be back to normal, even if the pipeline is back up and running by the end of the week.
“I think that it’ll at least be annoying or inconvenient to find gasoline . into next week,” Kloza said. “But really, we’re waiting on Colonial.”
He said he thinks things will calm down once the company sends a strong signal that fuel is once again moving.
De Haan put a longer timeline on it, saying he thinks it will take “a few weeks probably at best” for the situation to return to normal.
Listen • 4:09
Cars line up at a QuickTrip on May 11, 2021 in Atlanta. The White House said it would ease new restrictions on the shipments of fuel as panic buying leads to gasoline shortages at gas stations across the Southeast after a hack attack shut down a critical pipeline.
Updated May 12, 2021 at 6:01 PM ET
Colonial Pipeline said Wednesday it has initiated the restart of pipeline operations after suffering a cyberattack while warning it would take several days for supply to return to normal.
The restart of operations around 5 p.m. ET is welcome news across the Southeast, which was gripped by a wave of panic-buying that led to severe gasoline shortages over the last two days. The hoarding of gasoline happened after Colonial said it would suspend supplies through a critical pipeline following the cyberattack.
How long will it take to re-supply the gas stations?
Gas stations are expected to receive product from the Colonial Pipeline by mid-day today. The system was restarted yesterday and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted things should return to normal by the end of the weekend.
Which states are affected?
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia may be more heavily affected because they have limited options in terms of fuel transportation alternatives.
What happened?
The FBI said an online gang known as DarkSide struck the Colonial Pipeline system with a ransomware attack, which takes computerized systems hostage until a payment is made.
Updated May 12, 2021 at 6:01 PM ET
Colonial Pipeline said Wednesday it has initiated the restart of pipeline operations after suffering a cyberattack while warning it would take several days for supply to return to normal.
The restart of operations around 5 p.m. ET is welcome news across the Southeast, which was gripped by a wave of panic-buying that led to severe gasoline shortages over the last two days. The hoarding of gasoline happened after Colonial said it would suspend supplies through a critical pipeline following the cyberattack.
The announcement comes as stations have been pumping out days worth of fuel in a matter of hours, and a growing number are going empty.