Fuel supply: UK suspends competition law to get petrol to forecourts
The government is to suspend competition law to allow oil firms to target fuel deliveries at petrol stations following recent panic buying.
Officials said the move would make it easier for companies to share information and prioritise parts of the country most at need.
It follows days of long queues at the pumps, after fears of disruption to the fuel supply sparked panic buying.
But a minister said there were no plans to bring in the Army to drive tankers.
The government has been considering using the Army, but Environment Secretary George Eustice said the shortage of drivers was “not a huge problem”.
“The only reason we don’t have petrol on forecourts is people are buying petrol when they don’t need it,” he said, predicting that things would “calm down” once anxious people had filled their cars.
The Petrol Retailers Association has warned that as many as two-thirds of its membership of nearly 5,500 independent outlets are out of fuel, with the rest of them “partly dry and running out soon”. The UK has a total of more than 8,000 filling stations.
Announcing the measure to exempt the oil industry from the Competition Act 1998, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the government had “long-standing” contingency plans to maintain fuel supplies.
He said allowing the industry to share information would mean companies could work together more effectively to minimise disruption.
The government also relaxed competition law in March 2020, to help supermarkets work together to maintain food supplies.
A shortage of lorry drivers has caused problems for a range of industries in recent months, from supermarkets to fast food chains.
In recent days, some fuel deliveries were affected, leading to panic buying and lengthy queues at some petrol stations.
In a joint statement from companies including Shell, ExxonMobil and Greenergy, the industry reiterated that pressures on supply were being caused by “temporary spikes in customer demand - not a national shortage of fuel”.
PRA chairman Brian Madderson told the BBC the shortages were down to “panic buying, pure and simple”, with oil companies prioritising keeping motorway service station pumps topped up.
Bin Man:
a minister said there were no plans to bring in the Army to drive tankers.
I fully expect the army to be delivering fuel by Friday then.
If the news is to be believed its calming down as the panic buying idiots now have more fuel than they need, the garage I passed earlier had no huge queues so it seems they may be right.
Bin Man:
a minister said there were no plans to bring in the Army to drive tankers.
I fully expect the army to be delivering fuel by Friday then.
If the news is to be believed its calming down as the panic buying idiots now have more fuel than they need, the garage I passed earlier had no huge queues so it seems they may be right.
Well you can only fill up once (to the max) ok and maybe some extra 4l in plastic bottles so what then? You don’t fill up for the rest of the week/month! Or maybe queue up for an hour every day/evening to top up the 2.1l you used today
the maoster:
I filled up in Dundee yesterday and glanced at the petrol pumps displays, a couple were north of 50 quid but the rest were below the £8 mark! Really?
Perhaps they were on empty and £8 was all they could afford. I could only afford to put £5 in a previous skint life. Who are we to judge?
the maoster:
But how many litres does £8 buy you in this life? ^^ I guarantee in your skint days it was a whole lot more.
One could argue that queuing up for the latest I phone 13, a 50” tv and 40 tabs a day is probably more important to some folk.
About 5 or 6 litres, which is all some people can afford to buy this week. Some peole live frighteningly close to the bread line. Or perhaps 5 litres is all they need this week, so they’ve done the socially responsible thing and bought just what they needed to leave more for those who need it more. I ask again, who are we to judge?
Actually I’m judging. You and I both know that your splitting hairs for no other reason than you can. We both know that what people are doing is unnecessarily brimming their tanks. You’ll probably refute that but it’s bollox and you’re just in an argumentative mood.
But for some reason the government allowed the media to put out a false story that the tanker drivers had walked away from the job although wouldn’t be surprised if they had bearing in mind the the future of that sector within 10 years.
The government has also chosen not censure anyone after the fact.
The government has also not resisted the UN climate zealots’ instructions to accelerate the switch to EV’s.
It’s also not referred Octopus Energy’s ‘takeover’ of ‘failing’ energy providers, after the PM’s statement that gas prices would be artificially brought in line with electric and Al Gore’s investment in the resulting monopoly, to the relevant authorities.
Yes millions of litres being held in the oil depots’ storage tanks when they need to be in the garage’s tanks.Although having said that 10 million gallons isn’t that much.
Strange when we’re exporting 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
As for ‘panic buying’ no one’s vehicle tank is any larger this week than it was two weeks ago and vehicle fuel consumption and average mileages haven’t suddenly increased in that time.So why are the garage tanks empty more often than not.
the maoster:
the rest were below the £8 mark! Really?
Simple make it £40 minimum pre pay only don’t take it all then lose the money.
But how does the same amount of cars, travelling the same average mileage, at the same average fuel consumption, as before, so taking the same amount of fuel as before, but 5-10 x less of it at a time, but just 5-10 x more often, then run out the garage tanks any differently to before.
Bearing in mind it was closed garages and pumps and news reports of a shortage of tankers/drivers, that kicked it off not people buying any more fuel than before.
There is some justice out there.
Just filled up with 50 quid of proper 99 E5 no limit on amount and everything available.The garage and roads were deserted.Done my bit for the trees need more CO2 not nukes and biomass campaign.The night body clock mode which I’ve kept helps.
the maoster:
the rest were below the £8 mark! Really?
Simple make it £40 minimum pre pay only don’t take it all then lose the money.
That wouldn’t be fair on those that cannot afford to put £40 in in one go.
What’s the difference they put in 1 gallon every day for 6 days or they put in 6 gallons and don’t go back for more until they’ve used it.The money used is the same.
The same applies to the garage depletion rates.
Do the maths.
The same amount of cars running the same average mileage at the same mpg with the same fuel tank capacity as before.It makes no difference to the depletion rate whether they fill up 5x more often with 5x less each fill.The panic buying excuse is bs.Supplies are being deliberately held back for obvious reasons Boris wants to flog his unnaffordable EV green revolution to a rightly reluctant public.
Domestic gas supplies next.
I went out last night at 2am loads of usual 24 hour garages closed, empty roads including M25, no one around …and not a tanker anywhere to be seen and we know they work nights.Then phoned around and found one garage open no supply issues no limits take as much as you like I was the only person there among loads of open useable pumps so around £50 of 99 E5 in the tank all good.
Probably going out tonight this time with a 1 gallon can to then put in my relative’s dry motor who hasn’t been able to use it since last week then I’ll drive it back to same garage to fill it.Hopefully all good but haven’t phoned to check the stocks there yet.
So amounts drawn to fill the same car tanks as before are irrelevant in this government sanctioned scam.
Carryfast:
Probably going out tonight this time with a 1 gallon can to then put in my relative’s dry motor who hasn’t been able to use it since last week then I’ll drive it back to same garage to fill it.Hopefully all good but haven’t phoned to check the stocks there yet.
No chance tonight every 24 hour garage out of fuel or closed.
the maoster:
the rest were below the £8 mark! Really?
Simple make it £40 minimum pre pay only don’t take it all then lose the money.
That wouldn’t be fair on those that cannot afford to put £40 in in one go.
What’s the difference they put in 1 gallon every day for 6 days or they put in 6 gallons and don’t go back for more until they’ve used it.The money used is the same.
The same applies to the garage depletion rates.
Do the maths.
The same amount of cars running the same average mileage at the same mpg with the same fuel tank capacity as before.It makes no difference to the depletion rate whether they fill up 5x more often with 5x less each fill.The panic buying excuse is bs.Supplies are being deliberately held back for obvious reasons Boris wants to flog his unnaffordable EV green revolution to a rightly reluctant public.
Domestic gas supplies next.
I went out last night at 2am loads of usual 24 hour garages closed, empty roads including M25, no one around …and not a tanker anywhere to be seen and we know they work nights.Then phoned around and found one garage open no supply issues no limits take as much as you like I was the only person there among loads of open useable pumps so around £50 of 99 E5 in the tank all good.
Probably going out tonight this time with a 1 gallon can to then put in my relative’s dry motor who hasn’t been able to use it since last week then I’ll drive it back to same garage to fill it.Hopefully all good but haven’t phoned to check the stocks there yet.
So amounts drawn to fill the same car tanks as before are irrelevant in this government sanctioned scam.
You have completely missed my point, some people cannot afford to put £40 in their car in a month, my next door neighbour is a single parent she works part time where there is no public transport, she has an old diesel car and only uses it fot work I bet she doest put more than £20 in her car each month your scheme would punish her and all like her.
