Gas prices climb to seven-year high of $3.045 a gallon despite Colonial Pipeline reopening after DarkSide hack
Gasoline prices reached a new seven-year high of $3.045 on Monday in the aftermath of a cyberattack on the nation's largest fuel pipeline that caused a nearly weeklong outage and mass panic-buying.
The closure of Colonial Pipeline's 5,500-mile system was the most disruptive cyberattack on record, preventing millions of barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from flowing to the East Coast from the Gulf Coast.
Last week more than 15,000 gas stations ran dry as drivers fearing a prolonged outage filled tanks and jerry cans. The closure came just ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend at the end of May, the traditional start of peak-demand summer driving season.
Closure of Colonial Pipeline's 5,500-mile system caused by an unprecedented cyberattack last week prevented millions of barrels of fuel from flowing to the East Coast, resulting in soaring prices at the pump
The national gas price on Monday reach $3.045 a gallon, the highest since October 2014
Prices as high at $4.69 per gallon are seen at an Exxon Mobile gas station in Washington DC on Monday
The national gas price on Monday hit $3.045 a gallon, the highest since October 2014, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA).
'The Southeast will continue to experience tight supply this week as terminals and gas stations are refueled,' said AAA spokesperson Jeanette McGee. 'Over the weekend, gas prices started to stabilize, but are expected to fluctuate in the lead up to Memorial Day weekend.'
Fuel prices surged in the southeastern region, where panic buying of gasoline was rampant. North Carolina saw an average price increase of 20 cents per gallon from the previous week, according to tracking firm GasBuddy on Monday.
South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia all saw price increases of just under 20 cents per gallon.
This map from the American Automobile Association shows the national gas retail prices on Monday
South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia all saw price increases of just under 20 cents per gallon
Even as motorists dashed to nearby gas stations, traffic congestion in cities such as Richmond, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; Greenville, South Carolina; and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina fell last week from the week prior, according to Carol Hansen at location technology company TomTom.
Some drivers in the region canceled trips and plans to avoid using their gas supply.
Alpharetta, Georgia-based Colonial is currently shipping at normal rates, though it will take some time for the supply chain to fully catch up, Colonial spokesman Eric Abercrombie said in an email over the weekend.
The company, which delivers about 45 per cent of the gasoline consumed on the East Coast, began resuming its regular nomination process on Monday to allocate capacity to companies that use the line.
Multiple sources confirmed to the Associated Press that Colonial Pipeline had paid DarkSide, the group blamed for the cyberattack, a ransom of nearly $5million in cryptocurrency for the software decryption key required to unscramble their data network.
Last week more than 15,000 gas stations ran dry as drivers fearing a prolonged outage filled tanks and jerry cans
Imron Saeed fills his car with gas that his mother drove down from Maryland after he ran out of gas and could not find any in the area in Arlington, Virginia on May 13
The ransom — 75 Bitcoin — was paid last Saturday, a day after the criminals locked up Colonial’s corporate network, according to Tom Robinson, co-founder of the cryptocurrency-tracking firm Elliptic.
DarkSide has said it recently hacked four other companies. A website it used to communicate went dark last week.
Websites tied to two other ransomware groups not connected to the Colonial hack also were unreachable in a likely retreat amid the hunt for perpetrators, Allan Liska, a researcher with cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, said on Sunday.
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