Impact of Colonial Pipeline hack on Canadian gasoline prices ‘negligible’: analyst

TORONTO – An expert is reassuring Canadians to not be worried about a spike in gasoline prices after a cyberattack on a critical U.S. pipeline.

The Colonial Pipeline, which delivers about 45 per cent of the fuel used along the Eastern seaboard, shut down Friday after a ransomware attack, reportedly causing gasoline prices in some places in the U.S. to climb.

But GasBuddy oil and gasoline prices analyst Patrick De Haan says this should have a negligible impact on prices throughout Canada and most of the U.S.

De Haan says the hack has caused a delivery issue, not a gasoline production issue, and will not have much material impact on prices.

In a tweet, GasBuddy warns against panic-buying, saying that people don’t need to fill up on gas if they don’t immediately need it.

It says a sudden surge in demand will only drive prices up and make the situation worse.

— with files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2021.