Non-fuel drivers at U.S. oil stations in response to the theft of an oil pipeline

Trafficking in motorists in response to the central pipeline attack has led to a shortage of fuel at oil depots around the southeastern US, prompting the federal government to repeal environmental regulations to improve energy efficiency.

Colonial pipelines had been closed since Friday after what the FBI claimed was a rescue by a hacking the group called DarkSide. 5,500 networks transport oil, diesel and jets from oil stations in the Gulf of Mexico to markets on the east coast of the US.

Drivers who are concerned about the need for a necessity have been filling up their vehicles. About 8% of the site in Virginia had run out of gas since Tuesday morning, according to GasBuddy suppliers, while about 6% of the land in North Carolina and 4% of the land in Georgia also ran out.

“Drivers sometimes start storing fuel, which causes the stations to go down or out faster than they can, which could have serious consequences in the coming days,” said Patrick De Haan, chief oil analyst at GasBuddy.

The pipeline company has said it expects more systems to be in place by the end of the week. The future of oil prices in the US in the coming June has been stable since the downturn began as bank retailers on retail prices returned to normal.

However, prices at the pump are starting to rise sharply. The average global oil prices reached $ 2.99 on Tuesday morning, according to AAA, the world’s largest automotive transportation agency since November 2014.

U.S. states in the southeast have remained in the cheapest oil markets, according to AAA, but prices are also rising there.

As of April 30, the U.S. southeastern U.S. had 23.8m barrels of gasoline reserves, a 9% lower rate, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Oil traders can lower the stocks until the pipeline operation, which carries 45 percent of the oil used on the east coast, is restored.

However, there have been “often two or three times more demands” on how consumers react to the disruption, says Jeff Lenard, vice president of corporate experiments at NACS, a retail agency. “People are worried about how they will fill the vacancies so they are making sure they get it today.”

To address oil shortages, a U.S. environmental regulator on Tuesday lifted a temporary ban on oil sales in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, including Washington, DC. Adjustments are usually made in smoke-reducing areas.

“I’m convinced that there are ‘extra and extraordinary oils’ that could hinder the supply of fuel to consumers,” said Michael Regan, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency director. wrote in a letter to three state ambassadors and the mayor of Washington.

U.S. Department of Transportation for the first time set up emergency power raising the limit on the number of hours that motorists have to work, in order to increase fuel delivery on the road.