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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told CNN Wednesday that panic buying caused a gas supply problem in his state.
With an estimated 70% of Charlotte’s gas stations out of fuel, and price gouging complaints piling up across the state, Cooper told CNN’s Jake Tapper that they are working on multiple fronts to mitigate the problems at-hand.
“I want this gas supply problem fixed as quickly as possible, and we are working with the local and federal officials, and the company to get that done. I have declared a state of emergency which would allow the transportation waivers for more trucks and heavier trucks to come into the state to bring gas, and we have a waiver from the EPA to increase the amount of fuel coming in,” Cooper said.
“What we have to do though is to get the people calmed down, and to make sure that we get this pipeline up and running as quickly as possible. And to make sure that we have other avenues to get the gas to stations as quickly as possible,” Cooper said.
Contrary to comments made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp earlier in the day, Cooper said he’s had positive and constructive dialogue with the Biden administration as the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and subsequent fuel shortage unfolded.
“I had a good conversation with the Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm who told me they were working from the federal level to make sure this pipeline is turned back on as quickly as possible,” Cooper said.
“I got a call right away, and the Biden administration jumped on this quickly with me, and I understand with other state governors across the southeast. I think that this company is going to be able to get things back on track here in the next couple of days. But it does say that we have work to do with cybersecurity, particularly protecting critical infrastructure, and I think that the Biden administration believes that, and is working on that both in the short term and the long term,” he said.
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Colonial Pipeline paid the ransomware group that carried out a crippling cyberattack, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Thursday.
The group, previously identified as DarkSide, demanded nearly $5 million, two other sources familiar with the incident said. The sources CNN spoke to Thursday did not say how much the company paid. Bloomberg first reported the ransom payment.
CNN was previously told by multiple sources that Colonial Pipeline had not yet paid the ransom, but two sources said on Thursday that the company did pay as it sought to retrieve the stolen information. It is not clear when the payment was made.
The fact that the critical infrastructure company paid the ransom appears not to have been widely shared, despite federal entities working with the pipeline company to build back its networks following the ransomware attack.
Brandon Wales, the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA), said on Thursday that he has “no knowledge of whether a ransom was paid, how much was paid, if it was paid, when it was paid.”
President Biden declined to comment when asked on Thursday whether Colonial Pipeline had paid the ransom.
And government officials said they did not know if a ransom had been paid during briefings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Colonial Pipeline has also repeatedly declined to comment on the ransom payment.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said Colonial Pipeline was not likely to pay a ransom. The story has been updated to reflect new reporting that they did pay and clarify the data recovery process.
Colonial Pipeline has initiated a restart of its pipeline operations after a ransomware attack forced one of the nation’s largest oil transporters to shut down, exposing vulnerabilities in America’s infrastructure and sparking gas panic buying across the southeast.
Pipeline operations restarted about 5 p.m. ET, the company said in a statement.
Colonial first announced it was the victim of a ransomware cyber-attack late last week, prompting a shutdown of operations into Wednesday. An interagency working group, with the Energy Department serving as lead agency, was assembled over the weekend, and officials assessed “multiple contingencies” in the event of a prolonged shutdown and decreased fuel supplies nationwide.
In a tweet Wednesday, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm applauded the news, writing, “We just got off the phone with #ColonialPipeline CEO. They are restarting pipeline operations today at ~5pm. More soon.”
President Biden previewed the decision in remarks Wednesday, telling reporters, “We have been very, very close contact with Colonial Pipeline, which is the one area you’re talking about, where that’s one of the reasons that gas the prices are going up. And I think you’re gonna hear some good news in the next 24 hours. And I think we’ll be getting that under control.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been “frequently” communicating with states impacted by the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, says the agency’s new administrator Deanne Criswell.
In an interview clip released by CBS News Wednesday, Criswell is asked whether FEMA has had conversations with government agencies about potential disaster relief if the fuel shortages continue.
Criswell, who was sworn in last month as the head of FEMA, said the agency has “been in contact with all of our states that have been impacted by this, communicating with them frequently to see if there are any issues.”
This comes as the Biden administration officials are urging Americans not to hoard gasoline as a growing number of gas stations along the East Coast run out of fuel in the wake of a surge in demand following a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline.
President Biden told reporters Wednesday that there will be “some good news in the next 24 hours,” regarding the resumption of operations for Colonial Pipeline.
“In the meantime, we’ve made it easier for us to have lifted some of the restrictions on the transportation of fuel, as well as access to the United States military, providing fuel and with vehicles to get it there were places where it’s badly needed,” he added.
On Tuesday, the White House and US Department of Transportation determined that states with previous declarations of “major disaster” issued by Biden in the last 120 days would be allowed to use highways to transport overweight loads of gasoline and other fuels, in an effort to address outages caused by panic buying in response to the Colonial Pipeline hack.
Biden also reiterated the need for more workforce training in cybersecurity to prevent future attacks.
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Police in Griffin, Georgia, are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect that they said drilled holes into the tank of a parked U-Haul truck and stole gas from it.
The alleged theft comes as some gas stations in the Southeast are running out of gas. This is largely being driven by panic-buying in the aftermath of the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.
Griffin Police spokesperson Laura Littlejohn told CNN that the incident occurred a U-Haul store in the 1400 block of Bowling Lane around 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Littlejohn said that the suspect stole five gallons of gas, leaving the remaining 35 to 40 gallons in the tank spilling out on the ground. The Fire Department cleaned up the spill, she said.
Surveillance cameras caught the vehicle, a 1980 to 1986 red Ford F series truck, and the driver. Police are now asking the public for help identifying the suspect.
Major shipping companies – FedEx, UPS and Amazon – and the US Postal Service are refusing to say whether gas shortages are complicating their operations in the Southeast.
Earlier this week, major airlines announced they were temporarily changing their operations to conserve fuel as complications from the Colonial Pipeline continue to ripple out. The shipping industry isn’t being as transparent about whether or not they are being affected by the gas shortage, which is being driven by consumers panic buying.
“We’re currently assessing the situation,” USPS spokesperson Kim Frum told CNN. Frum declined to say whether gas shortages were hampering the organization’s efforts to deliver mail.
CNN obtained a photo from an eyewitness in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that showed a line of USPS trucks queueing for gas.
FedEx spokesperson Davina Cole told CNN that the company utilizes onsite fuel storage, “at a number of locations” and that they are, “communicating frequently with common carriers and mobile fuel vendors to monitor and adapt to potential fuel delivery challenges.”
Cole did not respond to a follow inquiry that again asked whether or not the company had to alter their operations as a result of the gas shortage.
UPS and Amazon did not return repeated inquiries sent by CNN.
Spokespersons for the South and North Carolina Attorneys General say they’ve received almost 1,000 reports of price gouging amid the gas shortage that’s being driven by panic buying.
In the last 24 hours, North Carolina attorney general spokesperson Laura Brewer says they’ve received 392 complaints of price gouging relating to the gas shortage. The law price gouging law went into effect after Gov. Roy Cooper announced a statement of emergency on Tuesday.
In South Carolina, Robert Kittle, spokesperson for the attorney general, says they’ve received more than 550 reports in the last few days.
Brewer said that the North Carolina attorney general’s office is taking a close look at the reports but no official enforcement action has been taken yet.
South Carolina’s attorney general will sort through any reports and turn any that fit the definition of price gouging to local law enforcement to investigate, Kittle said. The findings of the investigation will then be sent back to the attorney general who decides whether to prosecute.
The public can report price gouging in North Carolina by calling 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or by filing a complaint online. The public can report price gouging in South Carolina by calling 803-737-3953 or sending an by email.
Oil industry executives urged the White House on Wednesday to grant waivers that would allow foreign ships to send fuel to the East Coast to meet skyrocketing demand following the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline.
During a press call organized by the American Petroleum Institute, executives called on President Joe Biden to consider waiving the Jones Act, which requires ships sailing between US ports to be American flagged and built in the United States.
“We urge the administration to initiate a waiver of the Jones Act immediately to get more product on the Eastern Seaboard,” said Rob Underwood, president of the Energy Marketers of America.
Susan Grissom, chief industry analyst at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, said that granting temporary Jones Act waivers is “where President Biden’s team can make a big difference.”
“While it may feel like a shortage, the United States isn’t running out of gasoline,” Grissom said.
The supply problems have been exacerbated by a shortage of truck drivers that emerged in the weeks prior to the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, oil executives acknowledged.
“This issue is growing exponentially due to the fact we have a driver shortage,” said Ryan Streblow, interim president of the National Tank Truck Carriers. “If we had all the drivers we needed, this would be less of an issue.”
But industry executives pushed back Wednesday on calls to ration fuel in response to panic-buying during the Colonial shutdown.
“Once rationing occurs, more panic buying ensues,” Ryan McNutt, the CEO of the Society of Independent Gasoline Markets of America, said during a press call. “It actually has the opposite effect of what is intended.”
Instead of imposing restrictions, industry executives urged Americans to be reasonable, only buy the amount of fuel needed and refrain from filling up containers with gasoline.
Jeff Lenard, an executive at the National Association of Convenience Stores which represents gasoline sellers, blamed some of the irrational behavior on concern triggered by emergency orders imposed by various governors to address supply constraints.
“When you hear ‘states of emergency’ it may inspire panic,” Lenard said. “They are meant to repair the system, not to cause alarm.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has now authorized the state’s transportation secretary to take emergency measures to respond to the Colonial Pipeline incident and “ensure continuity of fuel supply throughout the state,” according to a release from his office Wednesday.
Transportation Secretary Greg Slater is now issuing emergency waivers on weight restrictions and hours-of-service requirements for Maryland’s motor carriers. According to the governor’s office, this increased flexibility will help relieve supply pressures throughout the state, and will help address transit issues as additional fuel supplies are brought in from out of state.
Oil industry executives warned Wednesday that gas hoarding by Americans during the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline is worsening the supply crunch.
A growing percentage of gas stations in the Southeast have run out of fuel, according to GasBuddy, an app that tracks fuel demand, prices and outages.
Rob Underwood, president of the Energy Marketers of America, said that some gas stations have sold days’ worth of inventory in mere hours.
“Panic-buying” by drivers “does not help the situation,” Underwood said.
Jeff Lenard, an executive at the National Association of Convenience Stores, said panic buying has been so severe that some gasoline stations not even supplied by the Colonial Pipeline have suffered outages.
Major airlines are changing some of their operations to cope with the fuel pinch caused by the hack of the Colonial Pipeline, which transports jet fuel to major airports up and down the East Coast. United Airlines tells CNN says flights bound to Baltimore, Greenville-Spartanburg, Savannah and Nashville are getting extra fuel at their origin to conserve fuel supply at those airports, a process known as “tankering.”
The Colonial Pipeline runs through Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, but an airport spokesperson says there’s been no impact on commercial flights.
Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service says the hack has had no major impact on the price of jet fuel, though tankering will be a priority for some airlines operating from airports most impacted by pipeline issues.
“All airlines are cognizant to fill up in Newark and not Raleigh, but there are no huge issues,” Kloza said.
On Monday, American Airlines announced that it was adding stops to two flights — to Honolulu and London, respectively — in order to conserve airport fuel supply. American planned to restore the routes to normal starting on Friday.
In the Charlotte, North Carolina, area, “a significant percentage of gas station” are without gas, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Management spokesperson Hannah Sanborn tells CNN.
The exact numbers of empty gas stations “is very dynamic and changing constantly,” Sanborn said, but she added that about 70% of stations do not have gas.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned against hoarding or improper storage of gasoline, following reports that a growing number of gas stations along the East Coast are without fuel following a ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline, a critical artery for gasoline.
In a series of tweets Wednesday, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned, among other things, to “not fill plastic bags with gasoline,” despite shortages.
“And under no circumstances should gasoline ever be put into anything but a vehicle directly or an approved container, and that of course, remains true no matter what else is going on,” Buttigieg said Wednesday.
He also pushed back against the notion that the administration was considering taking over management of the Colonial Pipeline to restore service, telling reporters, “I’ve not heard anything along those lines. We are partnering with the company to make sure that on everything, from the flexibilities we talked about to technical support and advice, that they’re getting the help they need, and they have been able through foreign and ancillary lines to move some product although, again, obviously, waiting for determination on fully reopening.”
Gas supply at Costco filling stations around the Southeast are mostly holding, but as panic-buying continues in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, that could change.
Yoram Rubanenko, Costco senior vice president of operations for the Southeast, told CNN Wednesday the situation is increasingly “touch-and-go.”
Rubanenko said in the state of Georgia, one fueling station in Alpharetta is totally out of gas while locations in Cumming and Peachtree City are very low.
“It’s going to be touch-and-go until the pipeline gets back to normal,” Rubanenko said, noting that some gas stations will not be offering premium gas until supply is restored.
Rubanenko said the panic-buying goes from Maryland down the eastern seaboard, and the situation is constantly evolving.
“It’s changing. Every day it’s changing,” he said.
Rubanenko said the company is only imposing fuel limits on people showing up with extra gas containers. The limit, he said, is two containers.
GasBuddy, an app that tracks fuel demand, prices and outages, has released updated figures on the gas shortages in some Southeastern US states.
As of 11 a.m. ET, here’s the percentage of all gas stations without gasoline:
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper addressed the on-going fuel shortages at some gas stations across the Southeast Wednesday saying it was “solely related to panic-buying.”
The governor said he has no plans to impose limits on fuel statewide.
Cooper said he has been in touch with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other federal officials about the gas shortages resulting from the Colonial Pipeline cyber-attack. He said the state has received a waiver from the United States Environmental Protection Agency allowing for the shipment of more fuel. He said Colonial is working to manually get fuel through one of its pipelines and into the state.
In the meantime, the governor said his office working with gas stations to ensure there is fuel available for public safety throughout the state. He said many North Carolina public safety departments have their own gasoline supplies.
Gas shortages, fueled by panic-buying, have forced three US Army installations in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia to limit gas purchases for on-base customers to 10 gallons.
According to three posts on social media, the Army bases in Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Lee, Virginia; and Fort Gordon, Georgia, have imposed the limits.
Fort Lee also stopped overnight fueling, in addition to the 10-gallon limit. At Fort Bragg, employees are being asked to check in about telework options, especially those that may have a long commute.
Fort Bragg also warned that they have “limited” fuel left, but said they anticipated three tankers full of gas will arrive today to refuel the station on base.
CNN has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment and has asked whether this was the result of a regional directive to preserve gas supplies.
A gas expert tells CNN “ground zero” for the rush to buy gas is now in Virginia, with sales at some gas station chains 50% to 60% greater than normal.
Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service says panic behavior brought on by fears that there could be a shortage of gas caused by the Colonial Pipeline hack is “spreading virally.”
“It’s spreading like a bad rash,” Kloza said, with posts on social media show long lines at gas stations in the DC metro suburb of Arlington. Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency in Virginia on Tuesday.
A GasBuddy map shows more stations in Virginia running low on higher octane gas. “If you want premium, good luck with that,” Kloza said.
On Tuesday, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm classified the fears as unfounded — rather a “supply crunch” than a gas shortage.
Gas stations throughout the Southeast are running out of fuel as Americans continue to panic-buy following the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.
The supply crunch appears to be much worse in some major metro areas. Here’s a look at some of the hardest-hit cities, according to GasBuddy, an app that tracks fuel demand, prices and outages.
