Early on Monday morning, the United States declared a national emergency. The incident quickly attracted attention and became a trending topic on Weibo.
According to China International Television’s official Weibo @CGTN morning news on the 10th, on May 9 local time, the United States declared a national emergency. The Financial Times reported that the move lifted various restrictions on road transport of fuel to mitigate the impact of the ongoing closure of the Colonial Pipeline.
Previously, Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined oil pipeline operator in the United States, was attacked by ransomware on the 7th. Hackers controlled its computer system or data through illegal software, and Colonial Pipeline was forced to shut down its location. A critical fuel network that supplies fuel to the eastern seaboard states of the United States.
The largest fuel pipeline in the United States was “cut off” by hackers
CCTV Finance quoted Reuters as reporting that on the 7th, Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined oil pipeline operator in the United States, said it had suffered cyber threats and attacks and had shut down the entire pipeline network. Since it is unclear when it will restart, analysts believe that the supply of gasoline and diesel on the East Coast of the United States may be affected. The White House said on the 8th that U.S. President Biden has been briefed on relevant incidents and is working hard to help the company resume operations.
“The U.S. government is fully committed to helping the fuel pipeline operator Colonial recover after being attacked by hackers.” Reuters reported on the 10th that this was the most devastating digital extortion incident reported. One, prompting U.S. lawmakers to demand greater protection of U.S. critical energy infrastructure from hackers. U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo said that restoring pipeline operations is a top priority for the Biden administration.
“Right now, it’s all hands on deck,” Raimondo said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We are working closely with the company and state and local officials to ensure they can resume normal operations and eliminate supply disruptions.” artery.
The Colonial Pipeline transports approximately 2.5 million barrels of gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel every day, and nearly half of the fuel supply on the East Coast of the United States depends on it. In response to concerns about fuel shortages, the U.S. government declared a state of emergency to lift various restrictions on fuel transportation and ensure that petroleum products can be transported quickly by road.
Affected by this incident, U.S. gasoline futures rose 4.2% to $2.217 per gallon in early Asian trading on Monday, the highest since May 2018. Additionally, U.S. heating oil futures also jumped to their highest level since January 2020. In terms of international oil prices, U.S. WTI crude oil futures rose 1.08% to $65.59/barrel, and Brent crude oil futures rose 1.1% to $69.03/barrel.
Some oil analysts said that the impact of this attack on fuel supply and prices depends on the closure time of the oil pipeline. An outage of one or two days would have minimal impact, but an outage of five or six days could lead to oil shortages and higher prices. Long delays will have a significant impact on fuel at the Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., airports.
Goldman Sachs: There are still opportunities for commodities in the next 12 months
Goldman Sachs said that in addition to strong micro signals, “the ideal scenario for the commodity asset class appears to be forming on the basis of moderately strengthening U.S. economic growth, catch-up global economic growth (excluding the United States), easing U.S. Wage pressures and the Fed’s dovish tone.”
In a May 7 report, analysts including Sabine Schels, Daniel Sharp and Jeffrey Currie said that this environment “is a sweet spot for commodities, and inflation starts to rise, And monetary policy will not be tightened for quite some time.”
Goldman Sachs said that one of the most exaggerated risks in commodities is a rise in U.S. long-term interest rates. Raw material prices “will rise further,” and the bank predicts more commodity returns over the next 12 months, including forecasting Brent prices of $80/barrel in the third quarter; the bank said it remains bullish on copper , aluminum and crude oil. </p
