The ransomware cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline has led to a continuous shutdown of significant stretches of the company’s system. The response is now fueling gas shortages and panic buying in portions of the 17 states that receive their fuel from this source.
In the Raleigh, N.C., area on Tuesday, cars were lined up 30 deep to access a dozen pumps at a BJ’s Wholesale Club. Lines also formed at a Sheetz convenience store near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, one of the rare stations around that still had fuel.Shortages in the area were also afflicting gas-station owners like Mike Whalen, whose family owns three locations that were out of fuel on Tuesday. The vice president of finance for Whalen Corp. said he doesn’t have alternative ways of getting gas or any sense for when his supply might be replenished. Plunging gasoline sales also mean fewer customers in the stations’ stores buying drinks and snacks.“Am I losing money? Hell yeah I’m losing money,” he said.Gasoline demand Monday across the U.S. was up about 20% from a week earlier, according to data collected by price and fuel tracker GasBuddy. Across five Southeastern states—Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia—demand for gasoline jumped 40%, the figures showed.
The current administration is desperate to get ahead of the curve on this issue, especially as #BidenGasShortage is making its way across social media. Shockingly, plans include easing up on regulations and trying to convince Americans the admin is not to blame.
The moves, including waivers of some environmental and labor rules to ease gasoline shipments, come as the closure of the Colonial Pipeline enters its fifth day, further straining a fuel market approaching its busiest season of the year. Already, industry estimates indicate that about 8 percent of gas stations in Virginia and North Carolina are out of fuel, even if supplies nationwide are ample enough to cope with demand.”We have gasoline,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters on Tuesday — the second day in a row that the White House had used its regular daily press briefing to address fallout from the pipeline hack. “We just have to get it to the right places.”Pressing the point further, she said. “It’s not that we have a gasoline shortage. We have a supply crunch.” Still, the coming days “will be challenging,” she said, and she asked people not to hoard gasoline — amid indications that some people are doing exactly that.
Perhaps if our FBI had spent more time investigating known hackers instead of tracking down garage pulls and checking up on Trump supporters, this situation could have been averted.
As a bonus, fuel prices are spiking across the country.
Gas prices have spiked to a seven-year high after Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut off the nation’s biggest fuel pipeline in the wake of a cyberattack as some fuel distributors warned of ‘catastrophic’ shortages across the South and Northeast.The national average for retail gasoline prices was at $2.985 as of Tuesday, according to the American Automobile Association. The last time the average gas prices were above $2.99 was back in November 2014.
Colonial Pipeline indicates that it plans to be back to normal operation by the end of the week. In the meantime, enjoy reliving the 1970’s –
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