OREANDA-NEWS. The hacker attack on the pipeline of the American company Colonial Pipeline and the possible consequences provoked a panic demand for gasoline in the United States, more than a thousand gas stations in the country have already reported a shortage of fuel. This is reported by Fox Business TV channel.

Colonial Pipeline previously said the operator had shut down some systems "to contain a threat that temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected some information systems." The company hopes to resume work by the end of the week. The simple pipeline has already led to higher wholesale gasoline prices in the United States. Refueling stops have been added to selected flights. The US Environmental Agency (EPA) has suspended a number of standards to help the fuel market.

Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline in the United States, reportedly supplies about 45% of the fuel consumed on the country's east coast. Large lines of cars began lining up in front of gas stations in several states on Tuesday night, including Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. According to the S&P agency, there are already more than a thousand filling stations experiencing fuel shortages.

S&P analyst Tom Close said most of the shortages are caused by gas stations "selling three or four times more gasoline than they normally sell a day because people are panicking."

As one of the motorists, quoted by the TV channel, explained, "the fact that we can so easily be attacked by hackers raises concerns."