Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
With one of the nation’s largest fuel pipelines suffering a ransomware attack, Levittown-area gas prices could see an increase.
While gas prices are already hanging between $3 to $3.08 a gallon in the Philadelphia region, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack that is still not resolved as of Monday evening is causing experts at AAA Mid-Atlantic to speculate that prices “continue to climb this week” due to the attack.
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In recent weeks, gas prices have risen and stayed high as demand has grown as COVID-19 vaccinations expand and more people travel after more than a year of not doing so.
“The longer the problem continues, the more it will likely affect motorists in the aforementioned states. Once the pipeline restarts, it will take days for normal conditions to occur,” the experts at Gas Buddy said of the impacts from the attack.
The FBI and other federal agencies are involved in investigating with the ransomware attack. The White House has been monitoring the situation.
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“We continue to work with the company and our government partners on the investigation,” the FBI said in a statement.
Patrick DeHaan, the head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy, said the pipeline, which is actually made up of several pipelines that move product from the south to north, will impact gas, diesel, and jet fuel supplies on the East Coast.
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“Motorists, don’t tell your friends to go out and fill up. That’s actually going to make the problem much, much worse,” he said, adding gas is still being refined and the problem is only impacting transit. “Don’t strain the system. Things will return to normal. The worst thing people can do is go fill their tanks up. There are multiple branches of government working to get this back up.”
AAA Mid-Atlantic officials said the pipeline brings 45 percent of all fuel on the East Coast.
There has been an effort to move more fuel on trucks to make up for the pipeline being shutdown.
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“There are other options, but we’re going to have to be a little bit patient,” DeHaan said.
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