[ad_1]
The colony pipeline resumed operations late Wednesday, and five days after a cyber attack caused a shutdown that caused fuel loss at gas stations, oil supply began to enter the eastern states of the United States.
Colonial said it started restarting at approximately 5 pm Eastern time, but warned that “the product delivery supply chain will take several days to return to normal.
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm (Jennifer Granholm) confirmed the restoration of traffic in a tweet and stated that he had just spoken with the CEO of Colonial Pipeline.
The 5,500-mile pipeline system can hold 2.5 million barrels of fuel per day and is a key artery for liquid fuels from the refinery to the eastern coastal states.it is shut down Last Friday, after the FBI said it was a ransom attack by a hacker group called DarkSide.
Work stoppages pushed up average U.S. gasoline prices $3 or more per gallon On Wednesday, this was the highest level since 2014. Gasoline futures fell about 1% to $2.14 per gallon, after Colonial announced the pipeline restart.
Panic buying According to data provider GasBuddy, gasoline shortages in certain areas of the southeastern United States have caused two-thirds of North Carolina gas stations to report that they had no gasoline on Wednesday afternoon due to fuel accumulation by drivers.
Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, said: “Now, Americans can finally rest assured that gasoline, diesel and jet fuel will once again begin to flow to the affected areas.”
However, it will take time to restore the pipelines used for nearly half of the fuel used on the east coast to their previous service levels. Colonial said that some of its markets may experience “intermittent service interruptions during startup.”
It added: “The colony will transport gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as safely as possible and will continue to do so until the market returns to normal.”
Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry planning for the convenience store industry association NACS, warned that fuel travels along the pipeline at a speed of 3-5 mph-about 100 miles per day-which means it will take some time for the fuel to be transported in the pipeline. Arrived in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
“I mean, this is the speed of walking, so if you want to know how long it takes, you can walk [from New York] To Houston. You will need to wear some serious shoes,” Leonard said.
S&P Global Platts Global Petroleum Analysis Lead Manager Richard Joswick (Richard Joswick) said that as panic buying exacerbated the shortage caused by the five-day pipeline interruption, gasoline inventories in the northeastern United States may fall to a five-year low point.
He said that after the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico refineries have lost their fuel exports in recent days, it will take at least a few weeks for them to return to “normal”.
European fuel exporters have begun chartering ships to increase shipments to the United States, and the Biden administration Relax some rules In recent days, to allow more fuel to be transported elsewhere in the country or trucked to the eastern states.
[ad_2]
Source link
