THE U.S. Government issued emergency legislation Sunday after the largest fuel pipeline in the United States was hit by a ransomware cyberattack.

The Colonial Pipeline carries 2.5 million barrels a day — 45 percent of the East Coast’s supply of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.

It was completely knocked offline by a cyber-criminal gang Friday and is still working to restore service.

The emergency status relaxes rules on fuel being transported by road.

It means drivers in 17 states and the District of Columbia can work extra or more flexible hours when transporting gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Experts say fuel prices are likely to rise 2-3 percent, but the impact will be far worse if it goes on for much longer.

Independent oil market analyst Gaurav Sharma said there is a lot of fuel now stranded at refineries in Texas.

“Unless they sort it out by Tuesday, they’re in big trouble,” said Sharma. “The first areas to be impacted would be Atlanta and Tennessee, then the domino effect goes up to New York.” He said oil futures traders were now “scrambling” to meet demand, at a time when U.S. inventories are declining, and demand — especially for vehicular fuels — is on the rise as consumers return to the roads and the U.S. economy attempts to shake off the effects of the pandemic.

The temporary waiver issued by the Department of Transportation enables oil products to be shipped in tankers up to New York, but this would not be anywhere near enough to match the pipeline’s capacity, Sharma warned.

Sources have confirmed that the ransomware attack was caused by a cybercriminal gang called DarkSide, who infiltrated Colonial’s network Thursday and took almost 100GB of data hostage.(SD-Agencies)