A cyberattack on the systems of the largest American pipeline company, Colonial Pipeline, could disrupt the supply of fuel to the United States, TASS reported, citing Bloomberg.

After the news of the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline in the United States, the prices of fuel futures increased. 

The cost of deliveries of gasoline on the New York Mercantile Exchange increased by 0.85% to $ 2.1317 per gallon (3.785 liters), diesel fuel - by 1.06%, to $ 2.0106 per gallon.

The incident could lead to unrest in the fuel markets and interruptions in the supply of gasoline and diesel fuel on the East Coast of the United States. Colonial Pipeline provides 45% of the total fuel supply to the eastern states of the country, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and others. Over 454 million liters of fuel are pumped through the pipelines it serves daily.

Earlier on Saturday, Colonial Pipeline released a statement in which management admitted that the cyberattack was carried out using a ransomware virus. According to Reuters, a group of hackers calling themselves DarkSide may be behind the attack.