Colonial's network supplies fuel from U.S refiners on the Gulf Coast to the populous eastern and southern United States. The company transports 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined products through 5,500 miles of pipelines, and transports 45% of East Coast fuel supply.
The company shut down systems to contain the threat after learning of the attack on Friday, Colonial said in the statement. That action has temporarily halted operations and affected some of its IT systems, the company said. "Cybersecurity vulnerabilities have become a systemic issue," said Algirde Pipikaite, cyber strategy lead at the World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity.
Both gasoline and diesel futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose more than crude prices during the day. Gasoline futures gained 0.6 percent to settle at $2.1269 a gallon, while diesel futures rose 1.1 percent to settle at $2.0106 a gallon.