Latest Fuel News

Truck drivers from across the UK are staging a protest in London today against escalating diesel costs. The protest began in Kent and was due to end with a Park Lane rally, with dozens of vehicles anticipated to be involved. A delegation from the protest is expected to hand in a symbolic coffin to the Houses of Parliament, representing the hundreds of haulage firms that have gone bankrupt as a result of increasing diesel prices – costs have risen 40% in the last 15 months.

The strike was organised by TransAction 2007, one of the groups behind the fuel protests in 2000. The BBC reported spokesman Mike Preneill saying: “Our industry is the lifeblood of the UK economy. Fuel is rising on a daily bases. It is now at levels that are bankrupting hundreds of small and medium-sized haulage companies.

“These are the companies that have been built up through hard work often over generations. The government is standing by and watching this happen.” He added that the problem has been made worse by foreign hauliers arriving in the UK with their vehicles full of cheaper derv from the continent.

The protest began on the M2 motorway in Kent earlier today, with organisers saying that fuel for a typical articulated lorry now cost up to £1,000 a week.

Protesters are also expected to hand a letter outlining their grievances to the Houses of Parliament, together with a copy of the 2005 Burns Inquiry – the independent inquiry into the effect of fuel taxation which shows that the level of diesel duty was higher in the UK than the average EU rate.

The protest follows the strike at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland earlier this week, which saw staff walk out for 48 hours in a dispute over their pensions.

Scotland’s First Minister  Alex Salmond has waded into the Grangemouth refinery row by urging the two sides to get back to the negotiating table. Staff are planning to strike at the Scottish refinery next week, and owners INEOS have started shutting down the site in preparation for the industrial action. The resulting fear of fuel shortages is causing many motorists to panic buy – and there are already reports of fuel rationing and shortages.

Mr Salmond told the SNP’s Spring Conference: “Now we have an impasse between management and unions at Grangemouth, threatening the disruption of fuel supplies. Let our message – Scotland’s message – be crystal clear. Both sides should stop debating with each other over the airwaves, return to the negotiating table, and stay there until they resolve their differences.”

The plea came as up to 1,200 UNITE union members at the refinery prepared to strike on 27th and 28th April. INEOS said that because of safety issues, the strike would effectively close the plant – which produces 9 million litres of clean fuels per day and is Scotland’s only crude oil refinery – for a month.

Meanwhile, drivers were facing rationing on fuel spending yesterday as motorists flocked to the forecourts to panic buy fuel. Forecourt queues were reported all over Scotland.

At least one petrol station resorted to rationing fuel in a bid to avert fuel shortages. Site owner Chris Furphy imposed the maximum spend of £20 per car at his Jet site, Mount Blow service station, in Dalmuir, Clydebank in a bid to avoid running out. Maureen Garth, a cashier at the site, said the forecourt had run out of petrol after rationing fuel at the weekend. She said: “We had to ration it because we wanted to make sure our regular customers were able to get some petrol – we thought it was only fair that everybody got a chance. We had unleaded until last night, but then that ran out and left us with just diesel. You wouldn’t believe the abuse we’ve taken over the last couple of days though, it’s been horrible. I never knew there were so many awful people about.

“I think most of the sites around here have totally run out of fuel, a couple seem to be closed because they didn’t introduce the rationing.”

However, fuel availability for motorists outside of Scotland will not be affected by the potential shutdown at the Grangemouth refinery, according to Ray Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailers Association. “If the shutdown does occur, the affect on supply in Scotland will be limited due to the sheer volume of fuel already in the supply chain,’ he said. “If motorists in Scotland buy their normal fuel requirement, any inconvenience ultimately caused by the industrial dispute at Grangemouth will be minimised. It is still not certain that the refinery will close, and even if it does the fuels already in storage will remain available for distribution to forecourts across Scotland.”

Mr Holloway stressed that it would be the bulk-buying of fuel that would ultimately be responsible for any shortages: “Even if supplies are not interrupted, if motorists buy more than their normal requirements, they will be putting abnormal pressure on the road delivery services of the oil industry in Scotland. Forecourts do not have unlimited storage facilities. If they are prematurely drained of fuel stocks due to bulk buying this will lead to consumer inconvenience while they are refilled.

“Fuel suppliers have planned for these circumstances and by working with the Scottish and UK Governments will be able to ensure forecourt retailers requirements continue to be delivered by road tanker.”

The new law increasing the level of biofuel that must be included in petrol and diesel at a minimum of 2.5% has now come into force in the UK.

The Government lauded the move as a way to allow motorists to be “able to fill their tanks with greener fuels”.

However, as soon as it came into force on April 15, critics said the new law will actually do more harm than good.

Environmental campaign group, Greenpeace, said the new rules will “drive rainforest destruction and could actually accelerate global warming”.

Senior forests campaigner Belinda Fletcher explained: “Right now, rainforests are being destroyed to make way for biofuel crops in places like Indonesia.

“This destruction leads to massive greenhouse gas emissions and completely undermines the point of these so called green fuels.”

The RSPB and Oxfam have also raised concerns about the new law.

“Some biofuel production will cause habitat loss, displace food production and emit more greenhouse gases than are being saved,” warned Graham Wynne, RSPB chief executive.

Oxfam called the new law “reckless” stating that there are also links between biofuel production and human rights abuses, slave labour and rising global food prices.

Despite growing evidence against biofuel use, the Government has pushed ahead and introduced the law as part of its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).

This obligation should see all road fuels sold here contain 5% of biofuel by 2010, which will bring the UK in line with European legislation.

However, motorists can still avoid putting biofuel into their vehicles.

In a move that was supposed to protect suppliers against fluctuations in biofuel prices, the Government has given fuel suppliers the option to pay a ‘buy out’ price in respect of some or all of their biofuel obligation.

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesman confirmed that a fuel supplier can buy its way out of having to add biofuels to its fuel.

The DfT could not say as to whether any fuel supplier has decided to exercise this option yet.

In defence of the new law, which is predicted by the Government to save 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2010, a DfT spokesman said: “The UK has gone further than any other country to give fuel suppliers a real incentive to produce sustainable biofuels that do not harm the environment.

“Suppliers are required to produce sustainability reports including information on where their biofuel crops come from and the level of carbon savings they will achieve.”

But Greenpeace pointed out that the reporting process is not strong enough.

“Suppliers are only required to “report” the details of the crops they are using - a process which can be easily manipulated to hide the true origin of environmentally damaging crops like palm oil,” said a spokesman.

Government ministers rallied together to support the law amid the growing criticism.

“Emissions from transport need to go down if we are to make serious headway in tackling dangerous climate change and this initiative has the potential to deliver considerable carbon savings,” said Phil Woolas, Minister for the Environment.

“Obviously sustainability needs to be at the heart of all biofuel production.

“We must be able to produce biofuel without causing a negative impact on our natural environment.”

Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick added: “We must do all we can to ensure biofuels are produced sustainably.

“We know people are concerned about the environmental risks associated with expanding biofuel production and we take those concerns very seriously”.

An extra £24 million has been allocated by the Department for Transport (DFT) in an effort to improve the safety of international trucks entering the UK.

As part of the initiative, goods vehicles crossing Britain’s borders will now face more stringent safety checks.

The £24m will fund a 50% increase in the number of HGV checks and also allow the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to open two new enforcement sites.

DFT figures show that HGVs from overseas are more likely to be unroadworthy, overloaded or being driven in excess of drivers’ hours rules than their UK counterparts.

Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said “We are determined to clamp down on unsafe trucks. More inspectors undertaking more checks at more sites will make our roads safer for everyone”.

Additional penalty regimes will also be introduced including fixed penalties, on-the-spot fines and seizing foreign HGVs.

Drivers are set to benefit from higher standards at service stations in a move which the Government believes will increase safety.

In its new policy for the operation and provision of service areas on motorways and major A roads, the Highways Agency maps out a range of facilities it expects operators to provide, from parking to toilets.

It will also introduce an independent quality scheme to grade services.

In addition to providing facilities of a higher quality, the agency is looking for it to increase road safety by encouraging drivers to take regular breaks.

Roads Minister Tom Harris said: “We are committed to providing and encouraging better services for road users.

“By improving facilities providing more choice, we want to encourage drivers to take breaks more frequently and cut the number of incidents caused by tiredness,” he said.