Reserve Fuel Tankers to be rolled out today

UK business secretary says government reserve tanker fleet to hit the road today

Long queues persist at petrol stations again in and around Watford today.  Much of a repeat of previous day’s.  A £30 limit is in place to limit consumption and to allow others to have a chance to get the gauges out of the red. 

Watford mayor Peter Taylor has asked the county council to consider designating petrol stations for emergency workers.

The Business and energy secretary Kwarteng also says 150 military tanker drivers mobilised to help in coming days but insists situation is ‘stabilising’

I can confirm the government’s Reserve Tanker Fleet will be on the road this afternoon to boost deliveries of fuel to forecourts across Britain.

The trucks are driven by civilians and will provide additional logistical capacity to the fuel industry (1/2) — Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) September 29, 2021

As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, the industry expect demand will return to normal levels in coming days.

Companies and government are working together on fuel supply 🤝

There is plenty of fuel at UK refineries and terminals.

As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, the industry expect demand will return to normal levels in coming days.

🔗https://t.co/ZXRyWZCRzL pic.twitter.com/ddGzuGMOzm — Dept for BEIS (@beisgovuk) September 28, 2021

James Spencer, managing director at Portland Fuel, told the BBC: “The original crisis – if you want to call it that – was caused by 25 to 30 petrol stations closing down near the south coast.

“It was never a particularly major crisis in the first place, obviously then there was the panic-buying, sales at forecourts went up by 500% over the weekend.

“Lot of people have filled up their tanks now, so you might actually see a dip in demand and the replenishment of fuel at petrol stations is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week job, so as we speak the petrol stations are being replenished.”