Why Gas Prices In Denver Are Surging

Denver drivers were shocked by prices at gas stations across the city on Tuesday, May 11.

While the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline has been big news recently, experts don't believe it has impacted Colorado's pricing or supply.

"On May 7, the Colonial Pipeline Company learned it was the victim of a cybersecurity attack. We have since determined that this incident involves ransomware. In response, we proactively took certain systems offline to contain the threat, which has temporarily halted all pipeline operations and affected some of our IT systems," the company announced in a statement.

“I’m not anticipating that to impact us here in the state directly,” Tom Brady, executive director for the JP Morgan Center for Commodities at the CU Denver Business School told FOX31. “But if this disruption goes on well into next week, we could start seeing some more expensive workarounds happening.”

Instead, Brady says the rebounding economy is one culprit behind Colorado's rising gas prices. In addition, increased summer travel now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing up around the country is another reason drivers are seeing prices quickly rising.

"We're starting to see summertime prices right now," delivery driver Fred Matthews told FOX31. "Unfortunately, it's going to hit everybody while we're trying to get back."

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