ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Following a shutdown necessitated by a cyberattack, Colonial Pipeline initiated the restart of pipeline operations at approximately 5 p.m. EST May 12, according to a statement on the company's website.
The pipeline is the nation’s largest, forced to shut down May 7 by a gang of hackers calling themselves DarkSide. The shutdown caused long lines as some panicked consumers created the gasoline shortage they were attempting to avoid by draining gas stations in the Southeast of their gas supplies.
“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 the startup 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 statement said on May 12.
Since reopening, Colonial Pipeline reports that product delivery has commenced in most of the markets it serves. It says every market should be operational by midday Thursday, May 13.
In a May 13 update, the company said, “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. By midday 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.”
President Biden plans to address the nation Thursday regarding the cyberattack.
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