Colonial, the largest operator of fuel pipelines in the United States, was forced to shut down the entire pipeline system after a network attack by blackmail software. Affected by the above news, US gasoline futures prices soared 4 per cent in early trading on Monday, hitting a three-year high. In addition, US WTI crude oil futures and Brent crude oil futures both rose more than 1 per cent.

ColonialThe oil pipeline is continuous.8851Kilometers per day from the Gulf of Mexico to New York Harbor and New York's major airports250Thousands of barrels of refined gasoline, diesel and jet fuel bear the burden of the East Coast of the United States.45%The fuel supply.

So far, Colonial has not disclosed whether the ransom has been paid, and it is not known when the pipeline will resume operation. People familiar with the matter said that the ransom demanded by the hackers could be as high as millions of dollars in virtual coins. And even if the affected company pays the ransom as required, it still needs to shut down operations for maintenance for the sake of security, causing huge losses at the same time.

Some analysts believe that if the pipeline cannot be reopened quickly, the impact on oil prices may be more serious in the next few days.

The largest product pipeline is "cut off" by hackers.

Recently, the global energy market is like a frightened bird, in a state of high vigilance, prices are also fluctuating and rising. In addition to facing a tense situation in the Middle East and preventing drone attacks on oil facilities, today's energy market has to deal with cyber attacks from hackers.

The largest fuel pipeline in the eastern United States was forced to shut down on May 7 by hackers. Affected by the incident, US gasoline futures rose 4.2 per cent to $2.217 a gallon in early trading on Monday, the highest since May 2018. In addition, US heating oil futures also jumped to their highest level since January 2020. In terms of international oil prices, US WTI crude oil futures rose 1.08 per cent to 65.59 US dollars per barrel, while Brent crude oil futures rose 1.1 per cent to 69.03 US dollars per barrel.

The incident alarmed U. S. President Joe Biden, who was on vacation at Camp David. A White House spokesman said President Biden was briefed on the matter on Saturday morning. On May 9, local time, the United States declared a state of emergency after the largest local fuel pipeline operator was offline by a cyber attack.

The White House met with the largest U.S. fuel pipeline operator who was hit by a network attack on blackmail software on Sunday, according to Reuters.Colonial PipelineWork closely to help it resume operations. The attacks forced the company to shut down a key fuel network that supplies fuel to densely populated eastern states.

In the view of many US media, this astonishing accident fully exposed the fragility of cyber security of the major US infrastructure system, and at the same time, it was also a provocation to the White House-just late last month, the Biden administration just unveiled a "100-day plan" to boost the cyber security of the energy supply system.

Hackers ask for millions of dollars in virtual coins

According to an investigation by cyber security agencies, the hacker group that carried out the attack was called the Dark side, and their method was to implant malware into the target system to demand ransom. This malware, called "blackmail virus" by some media, can forcibly encrypt data in the target system until the victim pays the ransom before the hacker unlocks it. According to the New York Times, this kind of cybercrime is like a "kidnapping of data".

According to overseas media reports, so far, Colonial has not disclosed whether the ransom has been paid, and when the pipeline will resume operation is still unknown. People familiar with the matter said that the ransom demanded by the hackers could be as high as millions of dollars in virtual coins. And even if the affected company pays the ransom as required, it still needs to shut down operations for maintenance for the sake of security, causing huge losses at the same time.

According to Reuters, although the US government investigation is still in its infancy, a former US official and three industry sources said it was suspected that the hacker was a company namedDarkSideA professional cyber criminal gang.

DarkSide is one of many gangs that use blackmail software to extort victims, hacking into private networks, encrypting files and often stealing data.

The main pipeline remains closed, endangering nearly half of the fuel supply on the east coast

Reuters reported thatColonialAfter the blackmail software network attack, shut down the entire pipeline system. It was one of the most damaging digital extortion cases ever reported, prompting US lawmakers to demand greater protection of the country's critical energy infrastructure against hackers.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimundo Raimundo said restoring pipeline operations is a top priority for the Biden administration, and Washington is helping Colonial restart its more than 5500 miles (8850 kilometers) of pipeline network from Texas to New Jersey as soon as possible to avoid more serious fuel disruption.

"now, all sides are going all out," Raimundo said on CBS's "facing the country" (Face the Nation) program. "We are working closely with the company, state and local officials to ensure that they can resume normal operations and eliminate supply disruptions. "

Colonial said on Sunday that its main fuel pipeline remained closed, but that some small pipelines between the terminal and the point of delivery had now resumed operation. Neither Raimundo nor the company gave an estimate of the restart date on Sunday, and Colonial did not comment further.

"We are restoring services to other branches, and we will bring the entire system back online only if we believe it is safe and in full compliance with all federal regulations," the company said in a statement. "

The oil pipeline in Colonial stretches for 8851 kilometers. The company has a vast refined energy delivery system that delivers up to 2.5 million barrels of refined gasoline, diesel and jet fuel a day from the Gulf of Mexico to New York Harbor and New York's major airports, and accounts for 45 per cent of the fuel supply on the east coast of the US.

Its extensive pipeline network also serves major airports in the United States, including Atlanta's Harzfield-Jackson International Airport, which has the largest passenger volume in the world.

A spokesman for Charlotte Douglas International Airport said the airport currently had fuel reserves and was "closely watching the situation", adding that its fuel supply came from another large pipeline operator and Colonial.

Fuel retail experts from groups such as the American Automobile Association said that if the interruption lasts for several days, it could have a serious impact on regional fuel supplies, especially in the southeastern United States.

Agency: the impact on oil prices may be more serious in the next few days

Bloomberg reported that the intrusion into the fuel energy system came at a particularly inopportune time: it was summer and travel restrictions were being eased in the United States, and energy companies needed to increase supply. Many media have noticed that cyber attacks against the US energy system are becoming more and more regular, fully exposing the fragility of some of the country's "major infrastructure" in terms of network security.

Some oil analysts say the impact of the attack on fuel supplies and prices depends on the timing of the pipeline shutdown. The impact of an one-or two-day outage is minimal, but a five-or six-day outage may lead to oil shortages and higher prices. Long delays will have a major impact on airport fuel in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Industrial control system experts say that over the past decade, systems operated by pipelines are increasingly connected to computer networks. Key infrastructure companies in the energy and power industries also tend to invest more in cyber security than other industries. IfColonialThe shutdown is preventative, so it detects extortion software attacks early and is well prepared, and the final impact may not be significant.

GasBuddy, a data provider, believes that if the pipeline does not reopen quickly, the impact on oil prices could be even more severe in the coming days. Patrick De Haan, an analyst at the agency, was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that the market had realised that the problem could be worse than expected and that there was still a little breathing space, but not much. If there is no news on Monday or Tuesday, then the market will deal with a rather serious situation.

Goldman Sachs Group estimates that the price of Brent crude oil will reach 80 US dollars per barrel in the third quarter.

Most institutions are optimistic about the trend of oil prices in the later period. Goldman Sachs Group expects the price of Brent crude to reach $80 a barrel in the third quarter.

Goldman Sachs Group believes that moderately strong US economic growth, the catch-up of global economic growth (excluding the US), the easing of US wage pressure and the dovish tone of the Federal Reserve. This environment is "a sweet spot for commodities, where inflation starts to rise and monetary policy will not tighten for quite some time". One of the most exaggerated risks in commodities is the rise in long-term interest rates in the US. Raw material prices "will rise further" and more commodity returns are expected over the next 12 months, including an expected Brent price of $80 a barrel in the third quarter, while Goldman Sachs Group remains bullish on copper, aluminium and crude oil.

Open source securities pointed out that US crude oil and oil product inventories fell sharply than expected, which is good for oil prices. Although the epidemic in India continues, Sino-US economic data are optimistic to provide some support. Crude oil inventories by April 2021 are far lower than the peak of 249 million barrels in July 2021, only 57 million barrels more than the five-year average (2015-2019). Crude oil inventories on the East Coast of the United States have fallen to the lowest level in 30 years. Maritime inventories have also fallen 27 per cent in the past two weeks to 50.7 million barrels, an one-year low.

Everbright Securities said that data released by the US Energy Information Administration last week showed a significant decline in US crude oil inventories, which also boosted oil prices. The Chinese market has also recovered rapidly and maintained a good momentum of growth. But the epidemic in India shows no sign of abating. Rystad Energy expects that crude oil demand in India will be severely reduced and will take longer to recover, but the increase in crude oil demand in China and the United States will be enough to offset the negative impact of the Indian market. Although there are still variables in the relationship between supply and demand of crude oil, the market is generally optimistic that the new demand for crude oil will be greater than the reduced demand, so the oil price shows an overall upward trend.