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About half of all UK petrol stations outside the radio station have run out of fuel after the British bought a panic in response to a fuel shortage due to a lack of tank operators.
Brian Madderson, chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association, a trade union, said a survey of members on Sunday showed that 50 to 85% of all autonomous sites had now dried up, except for railway managers and other stockpiles that had set up oil companies.
Madderson cited what was the “operational problem” of a temporary decline in the number of retail outlets last week he was fast asleep after reporters pointed out that trade problems could have scared off motorists, while some members said their demand had risen “500% above the normal level” on Saturday, promptly losing future fuel tanks.
The UK has about 8,000 oil refineries, most of which are run by independent retailers, some of which use a license to operate large-scale commercial enterprises.
Madderson told the Financial Times that while the short story was a “scary purchase”, the cause was “a government that has been dragging its feet on the issue of land mines”.
Officials surrendered business pressure on Saturday and announced their release temporary visas for 5,000 foreign motorists to help address the huge shortage of retail products.
The government move came after a scary purchase later BP to say last week that more than 100 production facilities were disrupted and several forecasts were closed due to a shortage of tank operators.
Grant Shapps, travel secretary, on Sunday urged people to be “smart” and said there was a lot of oil in Britain’s six gas stations and 47 storage facilities.
“The most important thing is that people do it the way they do and fill their cars as much as they want, then you won’t be in line and you won’t miss the pump,” he told Sky News.
But the government’s call for restraint was not enough to stop the eviction from the oil rigs that warned oil companies that they would have to stop shipping due to a lack of HGV drivers.
Long lines appear in many support areas over the weekend. BP, which operates one of the largest stations in the UK, along with a number of highways, said on Sunday that 30% of its oil-rich areas were “low in fuel”.
The business department announced Sunday night that it would temporarily remove the factories – including manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and retailers – from the Competition Act of 1998, allowing them to share information and prioritize offerings in less demanding areas.
“While there has always been a lot of oil in the oil and gas fields, we are aware that there have been some problems with the supply,” said Kwasi Kwarteng, trade secretary.
He said called the Downstream Oil Protocol it can ensure that companies can share important information and work together to reduce confusion.
BP and Royal Dutch Shell, which also uses a lot of fuel, both said they were operating continuously.
But corporate investors said there was little that power companies could do in the face of panic, with the wait until it was possible.
Shell said it is restoring pages that were finished “quickly, usually within 24 hours”.
BP said: “We continue to work hard with our shipping company, Hoyer, to achieve better fuel efficiency and reduce waste.”
Photographs of petrol stations have added to the government’s pressure, which is also counterproductive falling electricity suppliers tracking the price of oil and electricity prices.
Women are preparing for big electricity bills – one of the things that has fueled warnings the cost of living problems this summer.
Madderson welcomed the government’s proposal to reduce visa requirements for foreign workers but said the biggest problems were with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, a branch of the Department of Transport, where there was a severe shortage of applicants for driver training.
“Establishing a DVLA is very important,” Madderson said.
Companies that rely heavily on oil are said to be on the rise in the coming days.
Steve Wright, chairman of the License Private Hire Car Association, said he had asked the driving department to grant the emergency use of licensed vehicles, which would give them access to fuel.
He also said that the lack of fuel could be “dangerous” because public transport vehicles were heavily used to transport medical patients and students with disabilities.
Additional reports of Nic Fildes and Jim Pickard