TOKYO- Crude prices climbed more than 1 percent on Monday after a major cyber attack that forced the shutdown of critical fuel supply pipelines in the United States, highlighting the fragility of oil infrastructure.
Brent crude was up by 76 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $$69.04 a barrel having risen by l.5 percent last week. US West Texas Intermediate futures rose by 70 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $65.60 a barrel, after gaining more than 2 percent last week.
Signaling the seriousness of the situation, the White House was working closely with Colonial Pipeline to help it recover from the ransomware attack, which forced the biggest US fuel pipeline operator to shut a network supplying populous eastern states.
Colonial’s network is the source of nearly half of the US East Coast’s fuel supply, transporting 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline and other fuels, and the company had to shut all its pipelines after the cyber attack on Friday, which involved ransomware.
It was not clear who carried out the attack, but sources told Reuters the hackers were likely a professional cybercriminal group.
