Gas Shortages Could Last Past the Restart of the Colonial Pipeline

• Ransomware hack of Colonial Pipeline, spanning from Texas to New Jersey, had caused the pipeline to shut down last weekend.

• Pipeline operations are returning to normal in the second half of this week, but it could be a while before the shortages dissipate.

• Shortages at gas stations are said to be linked to a lack of timely restocking by tankers at the local level, sparked by surge in demand, rather than pipeline or storage operations.

The regional gasoline shortage affecting the southern half of the east coast of the United States, sparked by panic buying following a ransomware hack of the Colonial Pipeline and its shutdown last week, might not dissipate for some time, even as the pipeline returns to normal in the coming days. The pipeline itself returned to slower-than-normal operations starting Wednesday afternoon, the company said, but the supply chain is likely to be affected until this weekend. The pipeline supplies just under 50% of all fuel types on the east coast.

However, it's the shortages at the retail level that appear to be causing long lines at the pumps.

"Following this restart, it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal," the pipeline operator said on Wednesday, May 12. "Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period. Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal."

The pipeline's shutdown sparked panic buying in some states in the southeast, and occurred May 7, with a hacker group demanding millions of dollars in bitcoin from the company. The FBI is investigating the cybercrime, but in the short term it had caused a halt to transporting fuel supplies originating from Houston, Texas, that travel up the eastern half of the U.S. to an end point in New Jersey. The pipeline supplies much of the fuel that gas stations sell in several states on the east coast.

"Colonial Pipeline has made substantial progress in safely restarting our pipeline system and can report that product delivery has commenced in a majority of the markets we service," the company said on Thursday morning, May 13. "By mid-day today, we project that each market we service will be receiving product from our system. The green segments on this map are operational, meaning product delivery has commenced. Blue lines will be operational later today."

"This would not have been possible without the commitment and dedication of the many Colonial team members across the pipeline who worked safely and tirelessly through the night to get our lines up and running," the company added. "We are grateful for their dedicated service and professionalism during these extraordinary times."

Even though the pipeline did affect the supply of gasoline and diesel fuel available at gas stations, news of the hack and the resulting shutdown had prompted some drivers to buy excess amounts of gasoline, filling up gas cans (as well as unapproved and unsafe containers) at gas stations.