Motorists from the Southeast United States began looking for fuel on Saturday, as a massive recharge drive was carried out to alleviate the shortages caused by a cyber attack that cut supply to New Jersey from Florida.
The six-day shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline is the most destructive cyberattack on record. Days after the pipeline network was restarted, panic purchasing continued, leaving fuel for gas stations in the United States’ Southeast.
According to the fuel monitoring app GasBuddy, more than 14,000 gas stations were closed, down from a high of 16,200 early Friday. According to the AAA, the national average for a gallon of standard unleaded was $3.04, up from $2.95 a week earlier.
An operation involving the shipment of fuel from refineries on the United States’ Gulf Coast to the northeast, as well as 18-wheel gasoline tanker trunks from Alabama to Virginia, contributed to the reduction of losses.
Dennis Li was trapped in a gas-less Sunoco station in Washington, D.C. on Friday. Throughout the day, he had unsuccessfully attempted to locate gas in four different locations.
“I’m driving in a vacuum that I don’t want to drive anymore,” Li, of Annapolis, Maryland, explained.
Nicholas Swann drove from his house to Bethesda, where there was a 15-minute wait.
“We wanted to go to the beach this weekend,” Swann said, “but we’re not sure because I can’t do it in a gas tank.”
INKNOWN INITIAL BREACH
DarkSide, the attack hacking group, claimed to have infiltrated four other German firms, including a Toshiba subsidiary.
According to a Colonial Pipeline spokeswoman, the corporation has not determined how the initial violation occurred as of this week. Every day, the 5,500-mile pipeline transports 100 million gallons of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from Texas refineries to East Coast markets.
Colonial did not specify how much money was involved or whether the hackers were compensated. Hackers have been paid almost $5 million, according to Bloomberg News and the New York Times.
According to Steve Boyd, Senior Managing Director for Sun Coast Resources, new shipments could take 12 to 20 days to reach the pipeline’s northernmost point in Linden, New Jersey if it is transported at half the usual pace.
Sun Coast has 75 lorries that transport supplies from ports in Alabama and Georgia to retailers in Virginia.
“We’ll be there if customers need us for another week or three weeks,” Boyd said.
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