UK fuel crisis threatens to disrupt health services and companies; Brent crude
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial crisis, the eurozone, business, and the UK’s supply chain crisis.
Britain has woken up to another day of disruption to fuel supplies, after problems shipping petrol and diesel to forecourts led to shortages and panic buying in recent days.
There are fears that vital services will be disrupted as the impact ripples through the economy.
Transport groups are already reporting problems on the roads again this morning, as queues at petrol stations with fuel for sale build up in the early morning rush.
Southdown buses, who operate in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, is warning of queues and delays.
And there are problems on other roads as motorists try to fill up.
Other petrol stations remain short of some grades of fuel, or are dry, as the industry struggles to ship fuel to forecourts fast enough.
Yesterday, the fuel industry said there was “plenty of fuel” at UK refineries and terminals, and that it expected demand “will return to its normal levels in the coming days”.
They’re hoping that demand will tail off after the weekend rush:
“As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, we expect that demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, easing pressures on fuel station forecourts. We would encourage everyone to buy fuel as they usually would.
But many people are trying to get fuel for their normal activities, such as key…
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