Cyberattack at Georgia-based pipeline could impact gas prices
A cyberattack at Colonial Pipeline in Alpharetta could impact how much drivers pay at the pump as summer vacations near
People are gearing up to hit the road for summer vacation after being largely trapped indoors for over a year. But a recent cyberattack at a gasoline pipeline based in Georgia could have an impact on how much you pay at your next visit to a gas station.
Over the weekend, we learned of a ransomware attack at Colonial Pipeline. Based in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Colonial is the largest gas pipeline operator in the country. It operates 5,500 miles of pipeline across the east coast, from Houston, TX all the way to New York, and transports nearly half of all of the fuel consumed on the east coast.
Colonial has shut down all operations as they attempt to trace the origins of the attack. Investigators are working to find out who is behind the attack, but the disruption could lead to an increase in gas prices. Not just here in Georgia, but across the country. Officials have not given a detailed timeline for service restoration, but your wallet could feel the impact of a prolonged outage.
As of Sunday night, however, the outage’s impact on gas prices has been minimal in major cities along the east coast. Over the last week, prices for a gallon of regular unleaded gas have not increased by more than ten cents in each city, according to numbers from AAA:
Atlanta: $2.75 now ($2.70 last week)
Houston: $2.62 ($2.57)
Washington: $3.06 ($3.03)
Birmingham: $2.64 ($2.61)
Charlotte: $2.70 ($2.64)
Nashville: $2.73 ($2.72)
Philadelphia: $3.10 ($3.01)
Baltimore: $2.89 ($2.81)
New York: $3.10 ($3.04)
Newark: $3.05 ($2.96)
New Orleans: $2.61 ($2.57)
Visit gasprices.aaa.com to find out more about the price of gas in your area.
Atlanta emergency officials released a list of suggestions for drivers amid the outage. They would like for drivers to only fill up their tanks halfway, complete all of their errands in one trip, minimize air conditioning usage and even consider using public transit.
Tom Kloza, the chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, told Atlanta’s WSB-TV that he does not believe that now is the time to panic in terms of how this could impact our wallets. He said that if the outage lasts longer than five to ten days, drivers may start noticing some bigger numbers on the gas price signs along the highways. “The problem is you’ll have station operators and distributors loading up because they fear price increases,” he said.
Kloza stressed the importance of remaining calm and advised against hoarding, as most Americans did with paper products and cleaning supplies at the start of the pandemic last year. “I think if people remain calm, then I think everything will be alright.”
He also said that Georgia and other southeastern states could be hit the hardest by fuel shortages if the pipeline outage lasts long. “Unfortunately, the southeast thanks to spring break and more open cities than the rest of the country is a little bit tighter on supply than the rest of the country,” Kloza said.
The Biden administration says that they working with Colonial to restore service as quickly as possible.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday that President Biden has received a briefing on the matter, and called the push to restore service “an all hands on deck effort.”
"We are working closely with the company, state and local officials to, you know, make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there aren't disruptions in supply,” Raimondo said on a Sunday morning talk show.
Raimondo also warned that cyberattacks against businesses such as this one are becoming more frequent and that they are “here to stay.” She said that her department and the administration will be working to better prepare businesses for these types of attacks.