This Week in Petroleum: Cyberattack Halts Fuel Movement on Colonial Pipeline (May 12, 2021)
webThis EIA report covers the May 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware cyberattack, which disrupted fuel supply to the U.S. East Coast. It is relevant to AI safety discussions around critical infrastructure security, cyber threats, and the real-world consequences of attacks on automated/networked industrial systems.
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Summary
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly petroleum report from May 12, 2021 analyzes the impact of a cyberattack that halted Colonial Pipeline operations on May 7, 2021. The report details regional fuel inventory levels before the outage and describes alternative supply options available during the disruption. It highlights the pipeline's critical role in supplying transportation fuels to the U.S. East Coast and Southeast.
Key Points
- •Colonial Pipeline, a 2.5 million b/d system spanning ~5,500 miles, was halted on May 7, 2021 due to a cyberattack, disrupting fuel supply to the U.S. East Coast.
- •Motor gasoline stocks in New England and Central Atlantic regions were near five-year averages before the outage, while Lower Atlantic stocks were 6.5% below average.
- •Alternative supply sources include the smaller 720,000 b/d Products (SE) Pipeline and marine shipments from the Gulf Coast and imports.
- •Pipeline flow speed (~5 mph) means some markets may face supply gaps for several days even after service restoration.
- •The Southeast relies heavily on Colonial Pipeline due to the absence of significant local refineries between Alabama and the mid-Atlantic.
1 FactBase fact citing this source
| Entity | Property | Value | As Of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial Pipeline (2021) | Financial Impact | $1B | Dec 2021 |
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This Week in Petroleum
Release Date: May 12, 2021
Next Release Date: May 19, 2021
Cyberattack halts fuel movement on Colonial Pipeline
Colonial Pipeline is a major mode of shipping for transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products that spans from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the East Coast. On Friday, May 7, the pipeline halted operations to contain the effects of a cyberattack. As of Wednesday, May 12, the pipeline had not resumed operations of its main lines, although some smaller lines are still operational. The company announced that it hopes to restore service by the end of the week .
Our most recent "> Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) includes weekly regional closing inventory data for the East Coast and its subregions as of the morning of May 7, before the pipeline flow was halted (Figure 1). On May 7, motor gasoline stocks in the New England and Central Atlantic regions ( PADDs 1A and 1B ) were a combined 40.0 million barrels, 0.4% higher than the five-year (2016–2020) average. Total motor gasoline stocks in the Lower Atlantic region (PADD 1C) were 24.6 million barrels, 6.5% lower than the five-year average. Next week’s WPSR release on May 19 will include inventory data through May 14, showing the outage’s impact on regional inventories.
Colonial Pipeline, a 2.5-million-barrel-per-day (b/d) system of approximately 5,500 miles of pipeline, is a significant mode of shipment for transportation fuels to the U.S. East Coast, particularly for several states in the Southeast (Figure 2). The pipeline carries refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet fuel from Houston, Texas, up to Linden, New Jersey, and serves several markets along the route through various branch lines. Because no ref
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