China News Service, May 16th. According to "Central News Agency", the US Colonial Oil Pipeline Company was forced to shut down its supply network after being attacked by hackers.
The company said on the 15th that it had fully resumed normal operations, but this did not immediately end the gasoline shortage affecting the eastern states of the United States.
Data map: On May 11, 2021 local time, cars lined up to refuel near a residential area in Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to reports, the Colonial Oil Pipeline Company announced on the evening of the 13th that the shut-down pipeline system has restarted operation, but also said that it may take several days for the supply chain to return to normal.
The Georgia-based company posted on a social networking site on the 15th that it has fully resumed normal operations and "sends millions of gallons per hour to the market we serve."
U.S. authorities believe that the "dark side" of cybercriminals locked the Colonial oil pipeline and launched a ransomware attack.
After the Colonial oil pipeline was shut down, panic buying was triggered. From Florida to Maryland, there were long queues of cars in front of gas stations.
The surge in demand caused the average gasoline price in the United States to soar above $3 per gallon, the first time since the end of 2014.
GasBuddy, an oil price tracking website, said that 81% of Washington DC gas stations were still short of gas on the 15th, although the situation in many eastern states has improved a lot.
According to reports, the Colonial Oil Pipeline Company operates the largest fuel pipeline system in the United States, transporting gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other oil products to the East Coast of the United States through its pipelines from the Texas Gulf Coast refinery, serving 50 million yuan consumer.