This Wednesday the Colonial company announced that it would reactivate the operations of the great oil pipeline on the US east coast, after suffering a cyberattack last Friday.
For the plant to function normally, it may take a few days, so supply and sourcing problems will continue.
The pipeline, which runs more than 8,850 kilometers (5,500 miles) between Texas and New York, transports the equivalent of 2.5 million barrels of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel each day, representing 45% of the supply of the entire East Coast.
This has caused panic among consumers, who have disproportionately filled their vehicles, which has resulted in 10,000 service stations running out of fuel.
The company reported through its website that the activation took place at 5:00 pm Washington DC time.
“Some markets served by Colonial may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period,” added the company, highlighting security efforts as a priority in this process.
On Friday, May 7, an internet criminal group called Darside, used malicious programs to encrypt the information of a system (ransomware), and ask for a ransom for the unlocking.
Colonial immediately stopped operations to neutralize the offensive and reported that they are not willing to pay the extortion.
Nearly 27% of gas stations in North Carolina have run out of supply, 15% in Virginia and Georgia and 13% in South Carolina, Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s chief analyst, reported on Twitter.
There are cities like Charlotte or Atlanta where unsupplied stations reach 70 and 60%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the White House called for calm on Tuesday, explaining that there is no need to fear a fuel shortage, although they did admit to supply problems.
“We know we have gasoline, we just need to get it to the right places,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters on Tuesday.
To counter the problems, the government has temporarily suspended some environmental and road transport regulations to ensure supply on the East coast.