Colonial Pipeline

Motorists found gas pumps shrouded in plastic bags at tapped-out service stations across more than a dozen U.S. states on May 13 while the operator of the nation's largest gasoline pipeline reported making "substantial progress" in resolving the computer hack-induced shutdown responsible for the empty tanks.

The major U.S. pipeline network forced offline by a cyber attack began to reopen on May 12, its operator said, after a five-day shutdown prompted motorists to frantically stock up on gasoline and some gas stations on the U.S. east coast to close.

But Colonial Pipeline warned that it will take "several days" before supplies return to normal.

Colonial Pipeline began to slowly restart the nation's largest fuel pipeline network on Wednesday after a ransomware attack shut the line, triggering fuel shortages and panic buying in the southeastern United States.