Gas futures soar after pipeline shutdown

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Gasoline futures soared further to a three-year high Monday after a cyberattack shut down the largest U.S. pipeline system.

Colonial Pipeline transports nearly half of the East Coast's supplies of crude oil and gasoline. Four days after a ransomware attack, industry and consumers are starting to feel the pain.

Andrew Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates explains.

“Because Colonial delivers to these terminals every five days, one can see that on day four or five of a Colonial outage, that we could see a much greater widespread impact through large areas throughout the mid-Atlantic and the southeast. And that would certainly be worrisome for the consumer, the airlines or the users of even diesel fuel for the trucking and railroad industry."

Retail prices at the pump began to creep up over the weekend. Industry experts say demand has already picked up in some southeastern states as drivers fill their tanks.

The U.S. government investigation into the attack is in its early stages. Cybersecurity experts said a criminal group called DarkSide may be to blame.

The ransomware attack comes just three weeks before the start of the summer driving season on Memorial Day. If the disruption stretches on, fuel suppliers may need to use trucks and rail to meet demand.