Colonial Pipeline restarts operations after shutdown due to cyberattack

The Colonial Pipeline on Wednesday (local time) announced that it has begun a restart of its operations, days after a cyberattack forced the company to shut down, leading to gas shortages in the United States.

According to The Hill, it began the restart at about 5 pm on Wednesday, but it will take "several days" for product delivery to return to normal, the company said in a statement.

"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 company said.

The Colonial Pipeline, which carries about 45 per cent of the fuel consumed on the US East Coast, was hit by a cyberattack last Friday, resulting in the pipeline shutdown and a rise in gas prices.

More than 1,000 gas stations in the United States have been hit with fuel shortages, US media reported on Wednesday.

The US Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued an emergency fuel waiver to help eliminate shortages in DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the wake of the attack on the pipeline. The measure will remain in effect through May 18.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 68 per cent of gas stations in North Carolina, 49 per cent of gas stations in Virginia, and 45 per cent of gas stations in South Carolina and Georgia had no fuel, according to gas price website GasBuddy, reported The Hill.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had declared a state of emergency for the US state after the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, Sputnik reported local media.

DeSantis signed an executive order to direct state emergency management officials to work jointly with federal and local officials, and activate the Florida National Guard, as needed.

Earlier before Colonial Pipeline's restart of operations, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order to improve the country's cybersecurity.

"The United States faces persistent and increasingly sophisticated malicious cyber campaigns that threaten the public sector, the private sector, and ultimately the American people's security and privacy. The Federal Government must improve its efforts to identify, deter, protect against, detect, and respond to these actions and actors," his order read.

"The Executive Order ensures that IT Service Providers are able to share information with the government and requires them to share certain breach information," the White House said in a statement.

( With inputs from ANI )