Army Set To Join Battle To Defeat Fuel Shortage Crisis

Army To Help With Fuel Crisis But Will It Be Enough?

The suggestion that there is no shortage of fuel is unlikely to appease the motorist who harbours concerns about the closure of their local petrol station so for now, the fuel crisis leads to army assistance.

There is no shortage of food in the world but millions still face starvation because of distribution problems.

The shortage of HGV drivers has meant that many petrol stations have run dry and closed. The consequence is, of course, the long queues witnessed up and down the country as motorists descend upon those petrol stations still having supplies to appease the fuel feeding frenzy.

There appear little obvious signs that matters are improving but Gordon Balmer, PRA Executive Director of the Petrol Retailers Association on 29 September 2021 said:

“There are early signs that the crisis at pumps is ending, with more of our members reporting that they are now taking further deliveries of fuel…Fuel stocks remain normal at refineries and terminals, although deliveries have been reduced due to the shortage of HGV drivers…We have conducted a survey of our members this morning and only 37% of forecourts have reported being out of fuel today. With regular restocks taking place, this percentage is likely to improve further over the next 24 hours”.

Nevertheless, notwithstanding this position, the Army has been called upon to assist with deliveries of fuel.

The defence minister Ben Wallace said:

While the situation is stabilising, our Armed Forces are there to fill in any critical vacancies and help keep the country on the move by supporting the industry to deliver fuel to forecourts.

The UK has around 8,300 petrol stations so it is uncertain how much assistance the Armed Forces can provide to alleviate the crisis. It has been estimated that over 3,000 petrol stations were reportedly out of fuel according to the Petrol Retailers Association on 29 September 2021 and according to Reuters:

the government said on Friday 200 military tanker personnel, 100 of which are drivers, will complete their training over the weekend and start deliveries on Monday.

Furthermore, it was reported in the Guardian on 30 September 2021 that nearly half of independent petrol stations still lacked fuel. The Petrol Retailers Association is understood to represent nearly 5,500 petrol stations in the UK. So with 200 army personnel now seemingly heading out to battle the fuel crisis on Monday, it would appear that each army driver would need to deliver fuel to at least 10 dry petrol stations to defeat the immediate shortages in the independent petrol stations. That suggests that the fuel crisis could continue well into the next week.

If the shortage was not troubling enough, the eye-watering petrol prices that have sprouted (although inevitable when demand so remarkably outstrips supply) nevertheless would not be welcomed for so many trying to recover from the devastating financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Petrol price inflation has rocketed. According to RAC Fuel Watch, the price of unleaded on 30 September 2021 was 136.78 pence per litre compared to 135.23 on 13 September 2021. In some London districts, some motorists will have witnessed motorway service station price levels.

Oliver Elliot Observation: Fuel Crisis Leads To Army Assistance

Oliver Elliot’s CEO, Elliot Green said:

This is deeply concerning for consumers and yet the worry is this could be just the tip of the iceberg with shortgages in other areas potentially arising as we head into the Winter months. With signficant numbers of energy companies now going insolvent affecting millions and leading to the prospect of rising energy costs, coupled with the current rise in the cost of petrol and Tesco’s Chairman signalling an mid-single digit increase in food prices, this inflation could conceivably not have come at a worse time. Such increased costs and shortages could lead to an rise in poverty and may trigger insolvency in other areas of the economy.

Disclaimer: Fuel Crisis Leads To Army Assistance

This page: Fuel Crisis Leads To Army Assistance is not advice and should not be relied upon as such. This article Fuel Crisis Leads To Army Assistance is provided for information purposes only.