Hi all, Just wondering how you think the possible petrol shortages in Scotland/Northern England are going to affect the entries at shows for the next month. Already in Scotland there has been panic buying & we're trying to work out how we are going to get to WELKS/Birmingham & Bath if it does happen.

Just been listening to a 'fuel expert' who says that there is enough petrol to cope if people do not panic buy although there may be a problem with diesel. Apparently we export petrol so we have no shortage of that type of fuel so I guess if people do not panic buy we should be ok, but people being people they probably will and that will increase the price yet again too.

As I have mentioned on this site before and offered lifts to shows-car share-maybe there could be a topic on car sharing-would help with costs, safety plus help fuel situation.

So if there is someone wanting a lift to Three Counties/Blackpool/East of England on Toy Day please reply.  Fuel costs to be shared.

I live ten miles south of Manchester.

I reckon this is going to be a lot worse than most people think.

Sorry to be all doom and gloom but Grangemouth is Scotland's only refinery and supplies the whole of Scotland's  fuel station infrastructure together with some of the North of England. When Grangemouth shuts down (and the process has already started) the flow of oil from the North Sea which comes ashore at Queensferry and is stored in limited storage facilities at Dalmeny Tank Farm before being piped to and refined at Grangemouth, will obviously have to come to a halt. This will cause huge problems for the oil rigs in the North Sea which will have to stop production, not a five minute task to stop or start doing this !

Once shut down Grangemouth itself will take several weeks to restart refining operations and in the meantime with most petrol stations normally only holding only three or four days supplies of fuel (at normal buying rates) and with the Scottish Government commandeering some of that to be diverted for essential services there will be severe fuel shortages and very soon !

There is just not enough extra refining capacity available in the rest of the country to sustain the loss of a large refinery such as Grangemouth and the "knock on" effects are likely to reach further into the U.K.

Sorry to be the bearer of "Doom & Gloom" but if this isn't resolved within days there are very hard times ahead !

Hope I'm wrong, but I suspect not as panic buying at fuel stations is already happening here as I post this. :(

As we export almost as much as we use I don't think there will be a problem with availability it will be the transporting of it that could be a problem if people do panic buy. As it will have to be bought from England there could be a problem with pickets or if diesel is short in Scotland so tankers are unable to refill. 

It is true there will also be a problem in England if people change their buying habits as the delivery schedules will not keep pace initially, but that is up to people and I do not have a lot of hope that they will not act in the usual selfish manner and rush to fill the tank with fule they don't need - just in case.

Yeah, trouble is Nova we also import a lot as well, and whilst I agree that the logistics of moving fuel across the U.K. will be a major problem the fact that Grangemouth's refining capacity will be lost to the North Sea Production Platforms is a problem in itself. I agree with all the sentiments in your post though ! :)

See:

The UK had 1.9 million bbl/d of refining capacity in 2006, according to OGJ. ExxonMobil operates the single-largest refinery in the country, the 326,000-bbl/d Fawley facility in southern England. However, BP controls the largest total amount of refining capacity, with facilities in Grangemouth, Scotland (196,000 bbl/d) and Coryton, England (163,000 bbl/d).
Other companies with significant refining capacity in the UK include Total (325,000 bbl/d), Shell (296,000 bbl/d),
ConocoPhillips (221,000 bbl/d), and ChevronTexaco (210,000 bbl/d). According to DTI, refinery utilization in the UK
was near 90 percent in 2004. The UK maintains an active international trade in refined petroleum products,
exporting 36.1 million metric tons (mt) and importing 26.4 million mt in 2004.

bbl/d = barrels per day
Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/United_Kingdom/Oil.html

Haven't heard about this, but I presume that's why diesel was £1.23 today! 

They say it will hit £1.50 a litre by september.
Why on earth it was soooo high I have no idea, but bet the Oil companys and goverment are raking it in!!!
Lea :)

Looking at the petrol stations here today (live about 5 miles from Grangemouth) there are already people panic buying & queues outside petrol stations. Had to queue for around 20 mins to get my usual Sunday fill up so not looking too good for Welks next weekend.

That's why I'm off to walk the 3 mile round trip to school ;-)  Do you think I can then justify my trip to WELKS with my husband :-D

Maddog, I am sure that you can definitely manage that!!  GOOD LUCK and I hope Auntie Bri does well  !!

well in Inverness there are a few petrol stations without diesel. The queue's are very long at all the petrol stations 

I'm in Stonehaven and one petrol station in the town is out of diesel, just filled up at the other one but it is very busy. In the local paper it did say that 2 garages in Aberdeen get their fuel from somewhere other than Grangemouth so I presume they will be busier than usual.

The Shell garage in Forfar is out of Diesel and don't know when they will get more, but have plenty unleaded. I don't know about the one at the Abbeygate, I didn't get that far (I use unleaded and bought it while I could ;-) )

Any excuse to put the price up.  If people don't panic buy things will be okay but of course as soon as you are told not to panic buy everyone does. 

Petrol station owners must be rubbing their hands in glee along with the Government.  Asda put their prices up and when questioned about it they said it was nothing to do with fuel shortages but everyone else was putting the price up so they were as well to keep in line with everyone else.

The small local garage (who of course is always more expensive then the big boys) is charged £1.18 for Petrol and £1.31 for Deisel.

Once again its the ordinary people who suffer.

Well, we're not going to WELKS. Just as well as all the garages round here are starting to close. Would probably get down no probs but wouldn't be able to get diesel when we came back up. As I have to travel a 35-40 mile round trip to work don't want to take a chance.

I'm not doing any shows at all until this is all over and done with.  I need all my fuel for work.

There was a comment I saw in the local paper tonight saying that rather than putting in maximums that people can spend (usually £15) they should be putting in minimum spends depending on the type of car/van etc which would stop people putting in £5 at a time and cluttering up the petrol stations making sure they never run out.  I'm still thinking about whether it would work and feel that it might if it was in conjunction with a 'no jerry cans' rule for the people who are stockpiling in their garages.

For anyone in and around Dundee, I was told that Morrisons has plenty of fuel. I haven't been down myself, but if you are struggling it may be worth a try.

Cheekychow said:

There was a comment I saw in the local paper tonight saying that rather than putting in maximums that people can spend (usually £15) they should be putting in minimum spends depending on the type of car/van etc which would stop people putting in £5 at a time and cluttering up the petrol stations making sure they never run out.  I'm still thinking about whether it would work and feel that it might if it was in conjunction with a 'no jerry cans' rule for the people who are stockpiling in their garages

I usually only put in about £5 a time, I just can't afford to put more in as I am on a very limited income, so I would be very upset if they did this. I only use my car when I have to, but as I live in the country and our bus service is awful I need the car. I only do about 50 miles on average a week unless I do dog shows. Why should I suffer because of people panic buying?

That would also hit motorcyclists who have much smaller fuel tanks than cars.

Lindylou, I suppose that each way has it's disadvantages but in order to get to and from work each week I do 150 miles which costs approx £35 and if I have lots of meetings to go to I can be travelling an extra 60mp day so £15 limits would be a nightmare.  Maybe your situation is different from a lot of people's as there are currently loads of people trying to fill up everyday which is adding to the potential crisis.

JG, the minimum spends would take into account the size of vehicle, as stated in my post.  I used cars and vans as an example but this would also take into account the smaller petrol tanks that bikes have and a small car like a micra would have a different level than something like an X5.