Oil Rising After a Cyberattack Causing Major US Pipelines to Close

Crude prices rose on Monday after a major cyberattack that shut down important fuel supply pipelines in the United States and underscored the fragility of its oil infrastructure.

Prior to the opening of European markets, Brent crude rose 57 cents, equivalent to 0.8%, to $68.85 a barrel, after rising 1.5% last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 51 cents, or 0.8%, to $65.41 a barrel, after rising more than 2% last week.

In a sign of the gravity of the situation, the White House has been working closely with Colonial Pipeline to help her recover from a ransomware attack that forced the largest US fuel pipeline operator to shut down a network supplying densely populated states in the east of the country.

Colonial’s network is the source of nearly half of the fuel supply for the eastern coast of the United States, and it transports 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline and other fuels. The company was forced to shut down all pipelines after Friday’s cyber attack, which included ransomware.

Goldman Sachs said he expected oil demand to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, and predicted that Brent crude would reach $80 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate would reach $77 a barrel within six months.