The cyberattack on one of America’s Colonial Pipeline is starting to impact consumers and businesses across the United States.

Gas stations across the US have begun reporting fuel shortages, primarily because of what analysts say is being caused on unwarranted panic-buying among drivers.

Panicked drivers have been seen banking up their cars in long lines at petrol stations across America’s East Coast, as they rushed to fill their cars amid fear supply could soon temporarily run out.

The pipeline supplies the East Coast of America with about 45 percent of its fuel but has now been offline for four days after a cyber attack.

The Governments Response

Government officials have acted swiftly to waive safety and environmental rules to speed the delivery of fuel by truck, ship or rail to motorists and airports, even as they sought to assure the public that there was no cause for alarm.

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In some good news, a large part of the pipeline has now resumed operations manually and Colonial hopes that it will begin restarting most of its operations by the end of the week, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said.

Motorists may still feel a crunch because it takes a few days to ramp up operations, but she said there is no reason to panic-buy fuel.

“We know that we have gasoline; we just have to get it to the right places”

S&P’s Oil Price Information Service put the number of gas stations encountering shortages at more than 1,000.

Why the country’s biggest fuel pipeline system has shutdown:

One of the United States’ major fuel pipeline operators has shut its entire network following a cyber attack that involved ransomware.

Colonial Pipeline, the source of nearly half of the US east coast’s fuel supply, said they had engaged a cyber security firm to help the investigation and contacted law enforcement and federal agencies after the attack.

The biggest U.S. gasoline pipeline won’t resume full operations for at least several more days due to a ransomware cyberattack blamed on a shadowy criminal network called DarkSide.

The attack on the Colonial Pipeline is one of the most disruptive digital ransom schemes ever reported.

The cyber attack on one of America’s Colonial Pipeline is starting to impact consumers and businesses across the United States.

Gas stations across the US have begun reporting fuel shortages, primarily because of what analysts say is being caused on unwarranted panic-buying among drivers.

Panicked drivers have been seen banking up their cars in long lines at petrol stations across America’s East Coast, as they rushed to fill their cars amid fear supply could soon temporarily run out.

The pipeline supplies the East Coast of America with about 45 percent of its fuel but has now been offline for four days after a cyber attack.

North Carolina issues State of Emergency due to fuel supply issues

North Carolina governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency to help ensure adequate supplies are delivered.

“Today’s emergency declaration will help North Carolina prepare for any potential motor vehicle fuel supply interruptions across the state and ensure motorists are able to have access to fuel” 

Aviation Impact

American Airlines says it has been impacted by the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline

The airline says it has added a stop on two long-haul flights out of Charlotte North Carolina, because of a fuel supply shortage due to the recent colonial pipeline outage