The vital economic lifeline has been shut since late Friday. Without the Colonial system, many cities and airports are forced to seek alternative supplies imported by tanker ships, barges or trucks. Even when the pipeline is restored to full service, it’ll take about two weeks for gasoline stored in Houston to reach East Coast filling stations, according to the most recent schedule sent to shippers.

For diesel and jet fuel, the transit time is even longer—about 19 days—because they are heavier and move more slowly.

On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation pointed the finger at a ransomware gang known as DarkSide. While cyberattacks are increasingly used around the world as a weapon against geopolitical rivals, there was no indication that the current crisis could boil over internationally. President Joe Biden stopped short of blaming the Kremlin for the attack, despite some evidence that the hackers or the software they used are “in Russia.”

Russia has no connection to the cyberattack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

Dwindling Supplies
Federal environmental regulators are waiving rules that bar the sale of conventional gasoline in areas where reformulated fuel is required. They also will permit the sale of gasoline that doesn’t satisfy requirements meant to help combat smog. The waivers apply to Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., through May 18.

In New Jersey, closely held Bolkema Fuel Company began topping off its stockpiles as soon as word spread of the Colonial outage.

“There is a panic going out, you know, when you hear something like this,” said Vice President John Bolkema. ”I called in an extra driver and said, just run a few extra loads. Let’s pump up the inventory and wait this out.”

His supplier increased prices at least three times on Monday as other businesses sought to stock up, and Bolkema’s commercial clients are asking for extra deliveries to avoid running low.

Colonial Chief Executive Officer Joe Blount and a top lieutenant assured Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk and state-level officials on Monday that the company has complete operational control of the pipeline and won’t restart shipments until the ransomware has been neutralized.

Website Down
On Tuesday, Colonial’s website was down because of an issue unrelated to the hack, a spokesman said.

Fuel supplies are dwindling just as the nation’s energy industry was gearing up to meet stronger demand from summer travel. Americans are once again commuting to the office and booking flights after a year of Covid-19 restrictions. Citigroup Inc. said the East Coast is at risk of a “temporary, but major shortage” of fuels due to the Colonial closure.

In the first sign of the potential disruption to air travel, American Airlines Group Inc. said it was adjusting two long-haul routes that originate in Charlotte, North Caroline, to add fuel stops. Flights to Hawaii will call in at Dallas-Forth Worth airport, while London-bound aircraft will make a stop in Boston.

The U.S. East Coast is losing around 1.2 million barrels a day of gasoline supply due to the disruption, according to a note from industry consultant FGE.