Last checked at 
(Adds reaction from BP, owner of Germany's biggest petrol
station network)
By James Pearson
LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Shell said on Tuesday it
was re-routing oil supplies to other depots following a
cyberattack on two subsidiaries of German logistics firm
Marquard & Bahls this week.
The companies, Oiltanking GmbH Group and mineral oil dealer
Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG Group, on Jan. 29 discovered they were
hit by an attack that disrupted its IT systems and supply chain,
the companies said in a joint statement.
Shell Deutschland GmbH, the oil major's German subsidiary,
was able to "re-route to alternative supply depots for the time
being," a spokesperson said in a statement.
In their joint statement, Oiltanking and Mabanaft said they
were working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and to
understand its full scope.
"We are undertaking a thorough investigation, together with
external specialists and are collaborating closely with the
relevant authorities. All terminals continue to operate safely,"
the statement said.
Terminals of Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, which is
a unit of Mabanaft, are operating with limited capacity and have
declared force majeure as has Mabanaft Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
for the majority of its inland supply activities in Germany, it
added.
Aral, the largest petrol station network in Germany with
around 2,300 stations, was supplying its stations from
alternative sources in light of the disturbance, a spokesperson
for its owner BP Plc said.
"The supply of Aral is currently secure despite the loading
halt at Oiltanking," they said.
Hamburg-based Marquard & Bahls generated sales of 10.5
billion euros ($11.8 billion) in 2020 and employs around 6,200
people. Its Oiltanking division owns and operates 45 terminals
in 20 countries, according to the company.
Germany's cybersecurity agency said it was offering its
expertise.
"I consider this incident to be serious, but not grave,"
Arne Schonbohm, president of the Federal Office for Information
Security, told a news conference.
"The companies produce 1.6 million litres of fuel oil and
2.1 million litres of fuel per year... It affects 233 fuel
stations in northern Germany. It is probably possibly to pay in
cash," he said.
Last year, top U.S. fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline
shut its entire network https://www.reuters.com/technology/colonial-pipeline-halts-all-pipeline-operations-after-cybersecurity-attack-2021-05-08,
the source of nearly half of the U.S. East Coast's fuel supply,
after a ransomware attack.
The incident was one of the most disruptive digital
operations ever reported. Colonial Pipeline said at the time it
paid hackers nearly $5 million to regain access to its systems.
The nature of the attack against Marquard & Bahls was
unclear. The company did not respond to requests from Reuters
for comment.
($1 = 0.8873 euros)
(Reporting by James Pearson; Additional reporting by Anneli
Palmen in Dusseldorf, Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Christoph
Steitz and Victoria Waldersee in Frankfurt; Editing by Tomasz
Janowski, Jason Neely and David Gregorio)
