Colonial pipeline halts some fuel deliveries for maintenance

The Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined fuel pipeline in the U.S., conducted system maintenance on Thursday that required a temporary halt of some deliveries, the company said in a statement.

Colonial does not expect significant impacts to fuel markets from the temporary halt and expects to return to normal operations by the end of day, a company spokesperson said. The pipeline will send updated schedules to shippers if there are substantive changes to delivery timelines, the spokesperson added.

The maintenance was not related to fuel leakages or cyberattacks, they said in response to a question about unverified reports of 'IT issues' on its system.

The 5,500 mile (8851 km) long Colonial pipeline pumps 2.5 million barrels a day of refined products like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast to markets spread across the U.S. East Coast on its way to the New York Harbor.

A 2021 hack of Colonial's systems proved to be one of the most disruptive digital ransom operations ever and led to a surge in gasoline prices.

Traders and brokers do not expect an impact to fuel prices from Thursday's maintenance related halt as the disruption is expected to be brief, multiple market participants said.