The closure of the Colonial Pipeline, which caused fuel shortages and operates at service stations in the east, has ended.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm took to Twitter to announce that operations were restarted a week after a cyberattack caused Colonial to shut down its systems, an announcement that the company itself quickly confirmed.
“We just got off the phone with the CEO of #ColonialPipeline. Today they are restarting the pipeline operations at ~ 5pm, ”Ms Granholm wrote about 10 minutes past the hour.
Colonial itself confirmed that it had restarted the pipelines and was working to bring everything back to normal.
The Colonial Pipeline was shut down last week for a ransomware attack, which the Biden administration has blamed on the Russians.
The pipeline provides nearly half of the fossil fuels consumed in the eastern United States. The shutdown caused some gas stations to run out, prompting higher prices and panic buying that made the situation even worse.
Colonial warned in a statement Wednesday that things will take a while to return to normal.
“After 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 start-up period, ”the company said.
But Colonial still promised to “move as much gasoline, diesel and jet fuel” as it can safely “until the markets return to normal.”
The two highest-ranking members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce added Wednesday that they have “good reason” to expect the fuel shortage to be temporary.
“We learned that while there are good reasons to hope that the shortage is temporary and pipeline deliveries may increase soon, there is more we need to do to ensure [Department of Energy] it has the tools it needs to prevent these incidents in the future, and minimize their impact if they do, ”said Representatives Frank Pallone, Democrat of New Jersey and chair of the panel, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican of Washington.
“We will continue to work closely with the DOE in their efforts to help get the pipeline back online quickly and safely,” the two lawmakers wrote after being briefed by the Department of Energy.
