ASHEBORO NC– The end of the fuel shortage is in sight after Colonial Pipeline announced Thursday afternoon that the pipeline was back operational.
“We can now report that we have restarted our entire pipeline system and that product delivery has commenced to all markets we serve. Following this restart, it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal. Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during this 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.”
Colonial Pipeline Company – Press Release
The pipeline transports around 45% of the fuel for the East Coast and had to shut down last Friday after finding ransomware on some of its computers. This past Monday, the FBI confirmed that DarkSide was responsible for the attack and said the investigation was ongoing.
The past week saw customers panic-buying fuel with social media filled with photos of long lines and customers filling up multiple gas containers. At one point 65% of gas stations were out of fuel, according to Gasbuddy.com, a website that tracks real-time fuel prices/outages across the U.S. Many smaller gas stations in Randolph County had to bag up fuel pumps as they ran out of gas with only larger chains able to secure fuel deliveries.
With the pipeline now back in operation and the Department of Transportation allowing states on the east coast to allow overweight trucks hauling fuel, the end to the gas shortage appears to be in sight.