Colonial Pipeline: US Petrol Prices Hit Seven-Year High

Motorists alarmed by rising gasoline prices and fears of
supplies running low are flocking to gas stations in the Southeast
as the impact of a ransomware attack that crippled the country’s
biggest fuel pipeline ripples across the region.

Although a large section of the Colonial Pipeline is back
online, gas prices in several states are spiking to a nearly
seven-year high, while about 1,800 stations across the U.S. are out
of fuel, according to travel app GasBuddy. That includes an Exxon
station in Charleston, South Carolina, which was completely sold
out of gas as of Wednesday afternoon, according to a
spokesperson.

The Cumberland Farms gas station on Highway 1 in Vero Beach,
Florida, reported long lines all day for gas currently selling for
$2.75 a gallon.

“We still have gas, but it’s going really fast. We may run out
today,” a worker at the station told CBS MoneyWatch. “We’ve been
going through about 2,000 gallons of regular gas an hour. We only
have 1,000 gallons of gas left until we get our delivery,” which
the attendant noted was expected tonight. “Diesel is OK. But
everything else is dwindling down very fast.”

President Biden tried to reassure Americans on Wednesday, when a
reporter asked what he would say to those worried about gas
shortages.

“We have been in very very close contact with Colonial Pipeline
… and I think you’re going to hear some good news in the next 24
hours,” the president said. “And I think we’ll be getting that
under control.”

Nearly half of stations in the Atlanta metro area are reported
out of gasoline and 28% of stations in North Carolina are out,
according to GasBuddy, which compiles its data using “crowdsourced”
reports from consumers. In parts of the Tar Heel State, such as
Greenville and Asheville, three-quarters of the stations tracked
were out of gas.

In North Carolina on Wednesday, drivers were paying an average
of $2.85 for a gallon of regular gas, up nearly six cents from
Tuesday and 16 cents higher from a week ago, according to auto club
AAA. Georgians were paying an average of $2.95, up eight cents from
Tuesday and 23 cents higher than only a week ago.

A RaceTrac gas station in Acworth, Georgia, ran out of gas over
the weekend and hasn’t received a new shipment in four days. “We
don’t have any gas, and we have no idea when we will get more,” a
spokesperson said. “We’ve turned plenty of people away. The phone
rings all day long.”

Gas prices had already been edging up before the cyberattack on
growing consumer demand and resurgent economic growth, with AAA
noting “significant recent increases in online traffic and bookings
on AAA.com, particularly for hotels and car rentals, heading into
the summer travel season.”

Charging $5.99 a gallon at some pumps
The national average price of gasoline on Wednesday surpassed $3 a
gallon for the first time since 2014, a milestone that signals
“things are slowly returning to normal” as the pandemic begins
easing in the U.S., Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at
GasBuddy, said Wednesday in a statement. “In this case, rising gas
prices are a sign Americans are getting back out into the world —
attending baseball games, going to concerts, taking a road trip —
basically staying anywhere but at home.”

That step towards normalcy was jolted by last Friday’s
cyberattack against the pipeline, which supplies about 4% of the
East Coast’s fuel needs. The FBI has said DarkSide, a criminal
ransomware group based in Eastern Europe, is behind the attack.

After the attack, the governors of Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina and Virginia — where the Colonial Pipeline is a key source
of fuel — declared states of emergency. The moves coincided with
spurts of panic buying and pushed prices at the pump higher.

Hours after Virginia’s emergency declaration, Lether Kerney took
an unexpected hit after pulling into a BP Gas station in Richmond.
“It was a lot of people there, no one looked at the price,” Kerney
told a local CBS affiliate.

Unaware the gas station was charging $5.99 per gallon, or twice
the national average, Kerney spent double what she normally would.
“I had half a tank of gas, so when it got to $25 I started looking
to see what was going on. And after I got to $30, I was like, ‘Oh
my God! I spent $35.45 to fill up my tank. Six gallons of gas for
$35. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

In the Sunshine State, a rush to the pump led to local
shortages, as Florida’s gas supplies are mostly not impacted by the
Colonial Pipeline closure.

Florida residents were urged by Attorney General Ashley Moody
not to hoard and to “only purchase gas when you need it.”

In addition to concerns that hoarding would only exacerbate fuel
shortages, one federal regulatory agency advised against related
risky behavior. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued
a series of cautionary tweets on Wednesday, including one advising
against filling plastic bags with gasoline. Another urged folks to
let others know it’s dangerous to use “containers not meant for
fuel to get gas.”

Motorists alarmed by rising gasoline prices and fears of
supplies running low are flocking to gas stations in the Southeast
as the impact of a ransomware attack that crippled the country’s
biggest fuel pipeline ripples across the region.

Although a large section of the Colonial Pipeline is back
online, gas prices in several states are spiking to a nearly
seven-year high, while about 1,800 stations across the U.S. are out
of fuel, according to travel app GasBuddy. That includes an Exxon
station in Charleston, South Carolina, which was completely sold
out of gas as of Wednesday afternoon, according to a
spokesperson.

The Cumberland Farms gas station on Highway 1 in Vero Beach,
Florida, reported long lines all day for gas currently selling for
$2.75 a gallon.

“We still have gas, but it’s going really fast. We may run out
today,” a worker at the station told CBS MoneyWatch. “We’ve been
going through about 2,000 gallons of regular gas an hour. We only
have 1,000 gallons of gas left until we get our delivery,” which
the attendant noted was expected tonight. “Diesel is OK. But
everything else is dwindling down very fast.”

President Biden tried to reassure Americans on Wednesday, when a
reporter asked what he would say to those worried about gas
shortages.

“We have been in very very close contact with Colonial Pipeline
… and I think you’re going to hear some good news in the next 24
hours,” the president said. “And I think we’ll be getting that
under control.”

Nearly half of stations in the Atlanta metro area are reported
out of gasoline and 28% of stations in North Carolina are out,
according to GasBuddy, which compiles its data using “crowdsourced”
reports from consumers. In parts of the Tar Heel State, such as
Greenville and Asheville, three-quarters of the stations tracked
were out of gas.

In North Carolina on Wednesday, drivers were paying an average
of $2.85 for a gallon of regular gas, up nearly six cents from
Tuesday and 16 cents higher from a week ago, according to auto club
AAA. Georgians were paying an average of $2.95, up eight cents from
Tuesday and 23 cents higher than only a week ago.

A RaceTrac gas station in Acworth, Georgia, ran out of gas over
the weekend and hasn’t received a new shipment in four days. “We
don’t have any gas, and we have no idea when we will get more,” a
spokesperson said. “We’ve turned plenty of people away. The phone
rings all day long.”

Gas prices had already been edging up before the cyberattack on
growing consumer demand and resurgent economic growth, with AAA
noting “significant recent increases in online traffic and bookings
on AAA.com, particularly for hotels and car rentals, heading into
the summer travel season.”

Charging $5.99 a gallon at some pumps
The national average price of gasoline on Wednesday surpassed $3 a
gallon for the first time since 2014, a milestone that signals
“things are slowly returning to normal” as the pandemic begins
easing in the U.S., Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at
GasBuddy, said Wednesday in a statement. “In this case, rising gas
prices are a sign Americans are getting back out into the world —
attending baseball games, going to concerts, taking a road trip —
basically staying anywhere but at home.”

That step towards normalcy was jolted by last Friday’s
cyberattack against the pipeline, which supplies about 4% of the
East Coast’s fuel needs. The FBI has said DarkSide, a criminal
ransomware group based in Eastern Europe, is behind the attack.

After the attack, the governors of Florida, Georgia, North
Carolina and Virginia — where the Colonial Pipeline is a key source
of fuel — declared states of emergency. The moves coincided with
spurts of panic buying and pushed prices at the pump higher.

Hours after Virginia’s emergency declaration, Lether Kerney took
an unexpected hit after pulling into a BP Gas station in Richmond.
“It was a lot of people there, no one looked at the price,” Kerney
told a local CBS affiliate.

Unaware the gas station was charging $5.99 per gallon, or twice
the national average, Kerney spent double what she normally would.
“I had half a tank of gas, so when it got to $25 I started looking
to see what was going on. And after I got to $30, I was like, ‘Oh
my God! I spent $35.45 to fill up my tank. Six gallons of gas for
$35. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

In the Sunshine State, a rush to the pump led to local
shortages, as Florida’s gas supplies are mostly not impacted by the
Colonial Pipeline closure.

Florida residents were urged by Attorney General Ashley Moody
not to hoard and to “only purchase gas when you need it.”

In addition to concerns that hoarding would only exacerbate fuel
shortages, one federal regulatory agency advised against related
risky behavior. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued
a series of cautionary tweets on Wednesday, including one advising
against filling plastic bags with gasoline. Another urged folks to
let others know it’s dangerous to use “containers not meant for
fuel to get gas.”