Colonial Pipeline Co. plans to “substantially restore operational service by the end of week,” the company said May 10. Colonial suffered a May 7 cybersecurity attack involving ransomware and took certain parts of its 5,500-mile, 2.5-million b/d system offline to contain the threat, temporarily halting all pipeline operations and affecting some of the company’s IT systems, which it has been in the process of restoring.
The pipeline moves gasoline and other refined products from the US Gulf Coast to southern and east coast markets, meeting roughly 45% of the regions’ gasoline and diesel needs. Colonial described the shutdowns as precautionary, noting that the most immediate threat was to its business systems, not its operations.
Initial market impacts of the outage were muted. Potential fuel price increases are expected to be limited to northeastern and southeastern states, with the 2-week journey from Europe limiting the ability of refiners there to capitalize on any potential shortages unless the shutdown is protracted.
Third-party cybersecurity experts have launched an investigation into the nature and scope of the incident. Colonial remains in contact with law enforcement and other federal agencies, including the US Department of Energy which is leading the federal government’s response.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it is “working closely with the company” and other government agencies. To help avoid supply disruptions, the Department of Transportation issued a temporary hours of service exemption to allow motor carriers and drivers transporting gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined products to work longer hours.
“We continue to evaluate product inventory in storage tanks at our facilities and others along our system and are working with our shippers to move this product to terminals for local delivery,” Colonial said May 10. “Actions taken by the federal government to issue a temporary hours of service exemption for motor carriers and drivers transporting refined products across Colonial’s footprint should help alleviate local supply disruptions.”
For information on the attack from a security perspective, visit our sister brand SecurityInfoWatch.com.