Got a spare drill bit? 'Cause the sh_t is hitting the fan at light speed. Whoa!
quote.bloomberg.com
Bloomberg Energy
Tue, 12 Sep 2000, 9:11am EDT
09/12 08:57 U.K. Fuel Crisis Worsens Amid Blockades, Shortages (Update3)
By Christopher Evans
London, Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- A U.K. fuel crisis worsened as refinery blockades and panic buying spread nationwide, causing widespread fuel shortages and warnings from business leaders that companies may be forced to shut down within days.
Protests over oil taxes that started more than a week ago in France are now disrupting roads and industry in Britain, Belgium and Germany. Truck and taxi drivers, farmers and private motorists demand the U.K. government lowers gas prices that are now around 85 pence a liter ($4.50 a gallon), the highest in Europe. About 75 percent of the price goes to the Treasury.
The blockades, sparked by oil prices at their highest since the 1990 Gulf War, have caused some rail services to be canceled, and begun to disrupt deliveries of imported goods. Companies may have to shut down and lay off workers within days if they are unable to obtain supplies or make deliveries.
``We're dry,'' said David Rosser, director of the Confederation of British Industry's Wales region, which represents about 2,500 companies, many of which have enough fuel to continue business for another day or two. ``Wednesday or Thursday will be the critical days. That's when things will stop.''
U.K. gasoline prices in August were 7.7 percent higher than a year earlier, the International Energy Agency said. Diesel prices rose 4.6 percent.
A spokesman for Total Fina Elf said 90 percent of its 1,400 stations will be out of gas tomorrow. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group has 520 stations empty out of 1,100 and Esso, a unit of Exxon Mobil Corp., said around 800 sites, or half its network, are dry.
Supplies
It is ``getting very difficult to maintain supplies,'' said a spokesman for BP Amoco Plc, where about two-thirds of its fuel stations are now out of diesel and unleaded gasoline.
U.K. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said it was the responsibility of the oil companies to distribute fuel. ``We are quite convinced that the oil companies can face up to their responsibilities to make sure the oil is distributed in this country,'' Prescott said.
He also signaled the government would not invoke emergency powers to end the crisis. ``The police are the ones that enforce the law. They have sufficient powers,'' he said.
U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday rejected calls to cut the fuel tax, instead seeking lower crude oil prices from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Blair canceled all out-of-town appearances today to manage the growing crisis.
The government obtained emergency powers under the 1976 Energy Act to ensure fuel deliveries to hospitals, fire crews and schools. Police and the army may be brought in to break up the blockades.
Oil Output
OPEC members this weekend agreed to increase oil quotas by 3.2 percent to help lower prices that are among the highest of the past decade, though officials from the group called on oil- importing nations to lower duties to relieve consumers from rising energy prices.
``We have a lot of compassion for the consumers,'' said Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi. ``But we have already acted three times this year so we have done our part. It's not us that is burdening the consumer. Our aim is to meet market demand, not flood it.''
London's taxi drivers, not known for their reticence, said the government should settle the crisis by cutting fuel taxes. ``It's about time the government gave in to mob protest,'' said driver Steven Shenker. ``Can't they see what the people want?''
``I've just filled up and that'll last me about two days. At this rate I can see myself stuck at home on Thursday,'' said John Hayes who has been a London taxi driver for over 20 years.
Congestion
Throughout the country, traffic congestion is growing as protestors block roads by slow driving. In Edinburgh, the Road Haulage Association is organizing a mass protest, where about 200 trucks are expected.
BAA Plc, which operates seven U.K. airports, said its airports at Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen may run out of fuel in a few days if truck deliveries of fuel end. They keep a two- to three-day surplus.
``There's no problem at the moment, and we're monitoring the situation,'' said Caroline Corfield, a BAA spokeswoman.
BAA's London airports, Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, receive fuel piped directly from refineries and shipments are unaffected, she said.
Railtrack Plc, which operates the U.K.'s train stations and railways, reported isolated cancellations of service because of fuel problems.
``I suspect there's going to be a problem if this goes on another day or two,'' said a Railtrack spokesman. About two-thirds of all locomotives use diesel fuel but most of the passenger train service in the London area is powered by electricity.
Shortage
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which runs ferries across the English Channel, said the fuel shortage is beginning to hurt its logistics business, which delivers containers and other goods from ports in Tilbury and Southampton. It has ``reasonable'' fuel supplies but will begin to run out by the end of the week, said spokesman Peter Smith.
``It is beginning to impede the flow of goods around the country to our customers,'' he said.
The Automobile Association, representing private motorists, warned against hoarding gasoline cans as people could be creating a ``bomb next door for their neighbours'' as well as breaking the law which restricts the amount of gasoline people can store for private use to three gallons, the AA said.
In the Netherlands, blockades resumed this morning at the Benelux tunnel near Rotterdam and the Velser tunnel under the North Sea Canal west of Amsterdam, as well as at various points on the nation's highways, NOS television reported.
The Dutch association of independent truckers has distanced itself from the blockades, saying it wants consultations with the government.
In Belgium, about 300 truck drivers are protesting for a third day in a blockade near the transport ministry.
``If we don't get an appropriate and lasting agreement by the end of the week, the whole of Europe will grind to a halt,'' said Henri Van Vugt, a truck driver for Van Mieghem. |
