Hacked US Pipeline Drives Gasoline Prices Over $3 Per Gallon For First Time Since 2014

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The hack attack earlier this month that shuttered a key US pipeline causing gas stations to run out of fuel in the southeastern US caused gasoline prices to spike above $3 a gallon for the first time since 2014, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.

“Disruptions to Colonial Pipeline operations prompted an increase in the average U.S. retail price for regular grade gasoline to $3.03 per gallon on 17 May, the first time retail gasoline prices averaged more than $3.00/gal since October 27, 2014,” an EIA report said.

A ransomware attack forced Colonial Pipeline to shut down on May 7 with the system not resuming normal operations until 15 May.

The pipeline, stretching more than 5,000 miles from refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast, supplies nearly half the gasoline on the US East Coast, along with jet fuel and heating oil. Short supplies combined with panic buying caused many stations to run out of gas.

Although deliveries have begun returning to normal, many stations remain empty in the Southeastern United States, with Washington, DC among the hardest hit. According to the gas information platform GasBuddy, more than half of the closed stations in the US capital had yet to receive fresh supplies as of Tuesday.