Drivers in the Southeastern United States reported gas shortages and station shutdowns in the wake of a cyber attack that shut down a major pipeline.
More than 7% of Virginia stations were out of gas Tuesday, as demand spiked nearly 20% nationwide, according to industry tracker GasBuddy. Industry experts cited the Friday DarkSide hack on the Colonial Pipeline and panic buying as causes for the shortage.
Latest statewide numbers for gas stations without gasoline as of 6am CT according to GasBuddy data.
GA 3.3%
AL 0.4%
TN 0.02%
SC 1.5%
NC 4.8%
FL 2.4%
VA 7.6%
Note: these numbers may be low as our data stream is only hours old and more updates flow in. https://t.co/A5TguUjDzT— Patrick De Haan ⛽️???? (@GasBuddyGuy) May 11, 2021
BREAKING: According to GasBuddy data, Monday US gasoline demand rose 19.9% from the prior Monday to a level that rivals Friday- the busiest day of the week at pumps. Monday’s demand was 18.5% higher than the average of the prior four Mondays.
— Patrick De Haan ⛽️???? (@GasBuddyGuy) May 11, 2021
The Colonial Pipeline transports 45% of the oil used by East Coast states, from Texas to New York. The White House is monitoring the shutdown, and President Joe Biden has been repeatedly briefed on the national security implications of the hacking, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. (RELATED: The Department Of Transportation Is Investing Nearly $30 Million To Beef Up Cybersecurity)
Panic buying and a decrease in supply have led to many stations selling out by early Tuesday morning.
This gas station in Robbinsville is all out of gas. Clerk said manager told her it could be five days before they have gas again. Says phone has been ringing off the hook of people calling around to find gas @WLOS_13 pic.twitter.com/SCcwmb1Pc0
— Caitlyn Penter (@CaitlynWLOS) May 10, 2021
Demand spiked 40% between Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia Monday. All five states receive oil transported by the Colonial Pipeline.
Monday gasoline demand rose 40.1% between just five states: GA, FL, SC, NC and VA
— Patrick De Haan ⛽️???? (@GasBuddyGuy) May 11, 2021
This is crazy. I stopped for gas just now having no idea what was happening. It’s out. People here told me they’d been to other stations and found the same. pic.twitter.com/7LDVdUXPo4
— Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) May 11, 2021
Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency.
Gas and oil transportation is not expected to be fully restored until the end of the week, Colonial Pipeline announced.