Top U.S. fuel pipeline remains days from reopening after cyberattack
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[May 11, 2021] By
Stephanie Kelly and Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The biggest U.S.
gasoline pipeline will not resume full operations for several more days
due to a ransomware cyberattack blamed on a shadowy criminal network
called DarkSide.
The attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which carries nearly half the fuel
consumed along the U.S. East Coast, is one of the most disruptive
digital ransom schemes ever reported.
While the impact remains to be quantified, the pipeline shutdown will
reduce fuel availability in the near term, push up prices and force
refiners to cut production because they have no way to ship the gas.
The privately owned company said on Monday it was working on restarting
in phases with "the goal of substantially restoring operational service
by the end of the week."
The FBI attributed the cyberattack to DarkSide, a group believed to be
based in Russia or Eastern Europe. Its ransomware targets computers that
do not use keyboards in the languages of former Soviet republics, cyber
experts said.
President Joe Biden said there was no evidence thus far that Russia's
government was involved.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/May/11/images/ads/current/chicagost_sda_HG_2020.png)
'GOAL IS TO MAKE MONEY'
A statement issued in the group's name on Monday said: "Our goal is to
make money, and not creating problems for society." Its statement did
not mention Colonial Pipeline by name.
Ransomware is a type of malware designed to lock computers by encrypting
data. The hackers demand payment to let the owner regain access. It is
unknown how much money the hackers are seeking, and Colonial has not
commented on whether it would pay.
Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity, told
reporters that the Biden administration is not offering advice on
whether Colonial should pay the ransom.
Colonial on Friday shut its 5,500-mile (8,850-km) pipeline network,
which moves fuels including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, to protect
its systems.
The episode laid bare the vulnerabilities of energy infrastructure to
hackers. U.S. lawmakers responded with calls for stronger protections
for critical energy infrastructure.
A spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said
the attack showed that U.N. member states needed to combat cybercrime to
avoid a "devastating impact on the world that we all live in."
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![](../images/051121PIX/busine1.jpg)
Holding tanks are seen at Colonial Pipeline's Linden Junction Tank
Farm in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Colonial Pipeline/via REUTERS
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Colonial restarted some smaller lines on Sunday between fuel terminals and
customer delivery points, releasing fuel stored locally to customers. On Monday,
it also began manually operating its 700,000-barrel-per-day multi-product fuel
line between Greensboro, North Carolina, and Maryland for a limited time while
it has existing inventories.
But its main lines remained shut, and an alternative, smaller conduit operated
by Kinder Morgan Inc serving the same region reached capacity.
The outage hit ahead of the summer vacation season, when gasoline demand and
airline travel tend to peak.
PAIN AT THE PUMP?
Fearing shortages, consumers in the southeastern United States rushed to refuel.
Gas stations in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee were seeing some panic
buying, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
The American Automobile Association said the national average gasoline price
climbed to $2.96 a gallon and could climb to its highest level since 2014.
In Georgia, trucking company owner Marcus Blash worried because his business
cannot store fuel on site to hedge against price surges.
"We pay at the pump," he said. "It hasn't hit us yet, but this is going to hurt
big time."
Florida resident Katina Willey went to several gas stations before she found one
that had fuel available. "There were lines at three of the five stations I
tried," she said.
If the disruption stretches on, fuel suppliers could ship by truck and rail
instead. The Department of Transportation on Sunday lifted driver restrictions
on fuel haulers in 17 states affected by the shutdown.
U.S. fuel importers are booking tankers to bring gasoline from Europe. U.S.
refiners including Motiva Enterprises and Total <TOTF.PA> cut output at Gulf
Coast plants on Monday because of a lack of transport.
(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar and Stephanie Kelly in New York; Additional
reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta, Raphael Satter and Steve Holland in
Washington, and Laura Sanicola and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by
Cynthia Osterman and Peter Cooney)
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