Media reporting there’s no shortage of fuel or tankers on the road, presumably in an attempt to calm things down after getting a lot of stick for causing it. I do take your point Rob about how it might’ve started.
So, it *should* sort itself out naturally. We’re not using any more fuel than we were two weeks ago (well, a little bit more driving around looking for the stuff!) but generally the total amount of miles driven is a relatively stable figure, so at some point it’ll naturally get back to normal. UNLESS there actually IS a fuel/supply shortage. In which case, we’re knackered!
There is enough fuel, the issue now is refilling the stations that the idiot public drained.
This was 2000:-
The fuel may be on its way but getting Britain back on the road will be a complicated and lengthy task, made worse by renewed panic buying. Oil companies, petrol retailers and motoring organisations say it could take three weeks to return to normal and have appealed to the public to act sensibly.
Early yesterday it was estimated that 90% of the 13,000 filling stations across the UK were empty of fuel. Oil industry officials said 300 designated petrol stations would have fuel by last night and 20% of the national network would be back on tap within 48 hours.
However, Ray Holloway of the Petrol Retail Association said initial deliveries to filling stations were not going to resolve the problem. "It's going to take us two to three weeks to get back to normal levels," he said. "The public will need to be patient and people must only take what they need."
There were few signs of patience yesterday as first deliveries reached some garages. At the Deerpark service station in Livingston news of a consignment of fuel from nearby Grangemouth brought a mile-long queue of drivers to the forecourt. More than 30,000 litres, a normal full day's supply, sold out in just three hours.
"If it goes on like this it's going to take a long, long time before we're back on track," said manager Alan Gray.
Sue Nicolson of the RAC Foundation said although it was crucial that motorists acted rationally, it was unlikely that they would. "We would say put only £10 or £20 in just to keep you going so that the petrol is enough to go round. I suspect, however, knowing human nature and the British psyche, that is not going to happen."
All eyes are now on the oil companies to see if they can rise to the challenge and get the fuel out quickly and in sufficient quantities.
The Shell UK chairman, Malcolm Brinded, yesterday assured the prime minister that the industry was responding. "We are focusing immediately on 300 sites for essential supplies and over the next two days we should see many more," he said.
Shell's fleet of 175 tankers normally make 600-700 deliveries a day to 1,100 filling stations nationwide. Only 30 of them had petrol by yesterday morning.
Esso normally delivers 700 tanker loads a day to 1,620 garages, the vast majority of which now have no fuel. "We are working as hard as we can to get all our tankers back out and the supply back to normal," said a spokesman.
BP said: "We are still talking about more than 1,200 of our 1,500 stations completely out of fuel. We think it will be two to three weeks before we can get back to a normal service. The situation would not be as dire as it has become if it wasn't for the panic buying. We can't really predict how the public is going to react now."
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/sep/15/oil.business8
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