Washington is facing a shortage of gasoline in the wake of a sophisticated cyberattack that shut down America’s largest fuel pipeline network for six days.

The cyberattack targeting the Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline earlier this week was the most disruptive on record, jeopardizing supplies from refineries in the Gulf Coast of Texas and exposing holes in America’s energy security.

Officials tried to assure consumers and motorists that supplies would return to normal soon after the pipeline resumed its operations. But that did not stop a widespread surge in panic buying that continued on Friday and left filling stations across the US Southeast out of gas.

The disruption in gas supplies, coupled with an increase in road trips caused by an easing of pandemic restrictions, has sent pump prices to their highest levels in years.

US gas prices head for highest in years as hacked key pipeline shut

US gas prices could soon be headed for the highest level since 2014 due to a cyberattack that crippled the country’s biggest fuel pipeline system.

The average national gasoline price has climbed to almost US$3.04 (S$4.05), the most expensive since October 2014, the American Automobile Association said.

As officials discussed legislation to improve the nation’s cyber defenses, more gasoline stations shut down in Washington DC and elsewhere.

Overall, some 14,144 gas stations were facing outages on Friday, down from a peak of 16,200, according to tracking firm GasBuddy.

In Washington, motorists said they were going from station to station throughout the capital in search of fuel.

Colonial Pipeline announced late on Thursday it had resumed its entire pipeline system connecting refineries on the Gulf Coast to markets along the eastern seaboard.

Some states reported modest improvements but still experienced major gasoline outages. Some 65 percent of gas stations in North Carolina were without fuel, while in Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia just under half were empty, GasBuddy said.

Bloomberg News reported that Colonial paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers associated with DarkSide, a group blamed for the attack.

Cyberattack that shut major pipeline exposes vulnerabilities in America’s energy infrastructure

A cyberattack that shut the largest US gasoline pipeline has highlighted vulnerabilities in America’s critical energy infrastructure.

The cyberattack came amid rising concerns over major vulnerabilities in America's energy infrastructure following recent incidents, and after the federal government launched an effort last month to boost cybersecurity in the nation's power grid.