People line up to fill up at a gas station in North Carolina on May 11, 2021.
Colonial Pipeline, the largest U.S. fuel pipeline operator, said Monday, May 17, that while its pipeline is fully back in service, it will take some time for supplies to be fully restored to tens of thousands of gas stations from the cyber attack. In turn, 19 U.S. states have signed a joint petition asking Biden to reverse current energy policies in hopes of restoring the Keystone XL pipeline project.
Last week, the Colonial Pipeline Company was hit by a cyber-hacking ransomware attack that shut down 5,500 miles (8,900 kilometers) of its pipeline system. It was the most devastating cyberattack the company has ever suffered, preventing millions of barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from flowing from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast.
According to GasBuddy, 11,667 gas stations were still without fuel on Monday, but that was down from a peak of more than 15,000 stations last week. Fuel prices also spiked in the Southeast, while the North saw a smaller increase.
The hack comes just before the Memorial Day holiday weekend in late May, which marks the start of the traditional peak driving out season for Americans in the summer.
The incident was made worse because there are few refineries in the southeastern United States. Panic buying caused 90 percent of gas stations in Washington, D.C., to run out of fuel. As of Monday, that number had dropped to 69 percent, GasBuddy said, adding that fuel outages in North Carolina had dropped to about 50 percent, while those in South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia were below 50 percent.
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), national gasoline prices have risen to $3.045 per gallon on Monday, the highest since October 2014. That compares with gas prices in the same period in 2020, which were $1.87 per gallon.
This week, the Southeast will continue to experience tight supplies as gas stations are restocking,” said Jeanette McGee, spokeswoman for the American Automobile Association. However, gasoline prices have begun to stabilize since last weekend, but are expected to fluctuate through Memorial Day weekend.”
Many people have now canceled their travel plans. Carol Hansen of TomTom, a location technology company, said traffic congestion in cities such as Richmond, Virginia; Atlanta; Greenville, South Carolina; and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, was down last week from the previous week.
19 states ask Biden to reverse energy policy
A coalition of 19 states urged Biden to restore the Keystone XL pipeline and asked him to reverse his energy policies.
The 19-state coalition, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, wrote in a May 17 letter to Biden, “The East Coast fuel shortage caused by the cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline Company is proving that America needs reliable gasoline pipelines.” If the shutdown of a single pipeline can cause such extreme spikes in prices and lines at gas stations, they said, then the U.S. needs better energy infrastructure.”
“A temporary shutdown of a pipeline operating at full capacity should not bring half the country to the brink of danger,” the coalition of states told Biden, “We need more safe and clean energy. And that includes the Keystone Pipeline.”
The attorneys general argue that the Keystone Pipeline project should not be canceled if Biden is all willing to take steps to save the Colonial Pipeline Company.
They added in their letter, “Perhaps one day, down the road, we will have the utopian energy situation you desire. But in the meantime, Americans want practical, effective leadership, not visionary deprivation.”
Knudsen and the other attorneys general also said the Obama administration has also repeatedly determined that the Keystone Pipeline is a pure positive for the economy, the environment and energy security.
In March, Knudsen and 20 other state attorneys general sued the federal government over the Biden administration’s withdrawal of the Keystone Pipeline, calling it unconstitutional. The states have also filed several other lawsuits against Biden over his energy policies.
Recent Comments