Pipeline outage causes US gasoline supply crunch, panic buying | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 25, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2025
Pipeline outage causes US gasoline supply crunch, panic buying

World+Biz

Reuters
12 May, 2021, 08:40 am
Last modified: 12 May, 2021, 08:47 am

Related News

  • US-Japan trade deal averts worst for global economy
  • Govt moves to buy 2.2 lakh tonnes of US wheat 
  • 'A trap': Asylum seekers arrested after attending US courts
  • Bangladesh holds inter-ministerial meeting on proposed US Trade Deal
  • Monno Ceramic partners with Lenox Corporation to export in US market

Pipeline outage causes US gasoline supply crunch, panic buying

"We are asking people not to hoard," US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters at the White House. "Things will be back to normal soon"

Reuters
12 May, 2021, 08:40 am
Last modified: 12 May, 2021, 08:47 am
Holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline's Charlotte Tank Farm in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. an undated photograph. Colonial Pipeline/Handout via REUTERS
Holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline's Charlotte Tank Farm in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. an undated photograph. Colonial Pipeline/Handout via REUTERS

Gas stations from Florida to Virginia began running dry and prices at the pump rose on Tuesday, as the shutdown of the biggest US fuel pipeline by hackers extended into a fifth day and sparked panic buying by motorists.

The administration of US President Joe Biden projected that the Colonial Pipeline, source of nearly half the fuel supply on the US East Coast, would restart in a few days and urged drivers not to top up their tanks.

"We are asking people not to hoard," US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters at the White House. "Things will be back to normal soon."

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Colonial was shut on Friday after hackers launched a ransomware attack - effectively locking up its computer systems and demanding payment to release them.

The company said it is making progress and hopes to restart a substantial portion of operations by week's end. The company said it has taken delivery of an additional 2 million barrels from refineries for deployment upon restart.

"Markets experiencing supply constraints and/or not serviced by other fuel delivery systems are being prioritized," Colonial said in a statement.

The outage, which has underscored the vulnerability of vital US infrastructure to cyberattacks, has already started to hurt.

In metro Atlanta, 30% of gas stations are without gasoline, tracking firm GasBuddy said. In Raleigh, North Carolina, 31% of gas stations had no fuel on Tuesday. Unleaded gas prices, meanwhile, hit an average $2.99 a gallon, its highest price since November 2014, the American Automobile Association said.

Colonial said it made recent deliveries to parts of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland and New Jersey.

In an effort to ease the strain on consumers, Georgia suspended sales tax on gas until Saturday, and North Carolina declared an emergency. The federal government, meanwhile, has loosened rules to make it easier for suppliers to refill storage, including lifting seasonal anti-smog requirements for gasoline and allowing fuel truckers to work longer hours.

Granholm said there is not a shortage but a gasoline supply "crunch" in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Southern Virginia, regions that typically rely on Colonial for fuel.

Driver Caroline Richardson said she was paying 15 cents more per gallon than a week ago as she refueled at a gas station in Sumter, South Carolina. "I know some friends who decided not to go out of town this weekend to save gas," she said.

Darkside Hack

The strike on Colonial "is potentially the most substantial and damaging attack on US critical infrastructure ever," Ohio Senator Rob Portman told a Senate hearing on cybersecurity threats on Tuesday.

The FBI has accused a shadowy criminal gang called DarkSide of the ransomware attack. DarkSide is believed to be based in Russia or Eastern Europe and avoids targeting computers that use languages from former Soviet republics, cyber experts say.

Russia's embassy in the United States rejected speculation that Moscow was behind the attack. Biden a day earlier said there was no evidence so far that Russia was responsible.

A statement issued in DarkSide's name on Monday said: "Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society."

It is unknown how much money the hackers are seeking, and Colonial has not commented on whether it would pay.

"Cyber attacks on our nation's infrastructure are growing more sophisticated, frequent and aggressive," Brandon Wales, acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said on Tuesday at a Senate hearing on the SolarWinds hack that hit companies and government agencies.

GOVERNMENT STEPS IN

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a waiver on Tuesday that allows distributors to continue supplying winter fuel blends through May 18 in three Mid-Atlantic states to help ease supplies.

North Carolina and the US Department of Transportation, meanwhile, relaxed fuel-driver rules, allowing truckers hauling gasoline to work longer hours. North Carolina, Virginia and Florida have declared a state of emergency.

The US has also started the work needed to enable temporary waivers of Jones Act vessels in response to the cyber attack - something that would allow foreign flagged fuel carriers to move from one US port to another, the Transportation Department said.

There are growing concerns that the pipeline outage could lead to further price spikes ahead of the Memorial Day weekend at the end of this month. The weekend is the traditional start of the busy summer driving season.

Gulf Coast refiners that rely on Colonial's pipeline to move their products have cut processing. Total SE trimmed gasoline production at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery and Citgo Petroleum pared back at its Lake Charles, Louisiana, plant, sources told Reuters. Citgo said it is moving products from its Lake Charles refinery and is "exploring alternate supply methods into other impacted markets."

Marathon Petroleum is "making adjustments" to its operations due to the pipeline shutdown, a spokesman said without providing details.

While the pipeline outage is having big short-term consequences in some regions, some experts believe the longer term impact will be small.

"Markets will go crazy, but two weeks later no one knows it happened," said Chuck Watson, director of research at ENKI, which studies the economic effects of natural and other disasters.

Top News

Colonial Pipeline / Colonial fuel pipeline / US / panic buying

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infographics: TBS
    Inflated rents, ghost floors, Tk220cr advance: How Premier Bank funds lined Iqbal family’s pocket
  • On 21 July, a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) F-7 BGI training fighter jet crashed into Milestone School and College in Uttara, killing at least 31. Photo: Mehedi Hasan
    Milestone tragedy: Death toll rises to 32 as another child dies
  • File photo of a new NBR office in Agargaon, Dhaka. Photo: UNB
    NBR chief directs customs officials to clear consignments within a day

MOST VIEWED

  •  ABM Khairul Haque. File Photo: Collected
    Former chief justice Khairul Haque detained
  • File photo of Bangladesh Bank. Photo: TBS
    Governor Mansur orders withdrawal of BB dress code after directive draws criticism
  • Hasina and Taposh in an event in 2020. Photo: Collected
    Al Jazeera investigation: Hasina, in call with Taposh, talks using helicopter to shoot, crush protesters in July uprising
  • Representational image. File photo: TBS
    Govt okays proposed tariff structure for Chattogram Port, rates to rise by up to 440%
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    Tariff talks: Bangladesh, US set for crucial virtual meeting on 29 July
  • Mehreen Ahmed speaking to media on 11 July 2025. Photo: Collected
    Court disposes of Dhaka girl's case against parents seeking 'protection from abuse'

Related News

  • US-Japan trade deal averts worst for global economy
  • Govt moves to buy 2.2 lakh tonnes of US wheat 
  • 'A trap': Asylum seekers arrested after attending US courts
  • Bangladesh holds inter-ministerial meeting on proposed US Trade Deal
  • Monno Ceramic partners with Lenox Corporation to export in US market

Features

Illustration: TBS

The future of medicine: How innovations will catalyse quantum leaps in healthcare by 2055

15h | The Big Picture
Photo: Collected

24 July: More than 1400 arrested, 3 missing coordinators found

1d | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Aggrieved nation left with questions as citizens rally to help at burn institute

2d | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Mourning turns into outrage as Milestone students seek truth and justice

2d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

All Previous Records Broken in Dinajpur, Rice Prices Are Rising

All Previous Records Broken in Dinajpur, Rice Prices Are Rising

57m | TBS Stories
There are many more examples of trials of Chief Justices in the world.

There are many more examples of trials of Chief Justices in the world.

14h | TBS Today
Why is there a massive conflict between Thailand and Cambodia?

Why is there a massive conflict between Thailand and Cambodia?

14h | TBS News Updates
Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in prison

Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in prison

14h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net