Britain is experiencing yet another fuel crisis, with filling stations closed across the country, but especially in the south. What has caused it and how long will it last for? 

It does seem that sit down protests by climate activists at UK oil refineries are impacting on supply, at least in the short term. According to the Just Stop Oil protest group: “over 400 people have joined actions that have succeeded in stopping operations for up to 24 hours at a time at 11 critical oil terminals that supply fuel to hundreds of petrol stations across the Midlands and South of England. As many as one in three petrol stations are being reported as shut in the South of England due to the disruption caused by the actions.” 

There are around 8,380 filling stations in the UK.Protestors have glued themselves to roads leading up to refineries and chained themselves to infrastructure such as pipework. 

Newspaper reports claim that filling stations in Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Birmingham and London have experienced difficulty with fuel supply, causing large queues and limited supply . 

Ongoing problems in Dover and the massive queue of vehicles on the M20 motorway have also hampered fuel deliveries in parts of Kent. 

However, official bodies, presumably keen to avoid mass panic buying of the sort seen last year, claim petrol and diesel continues to be readily available, despite the evidence at petrol stations.

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A Government spokesperson said: “Just Stop Oil protest activity at some oil terminals has led to short-term disruptions to fuel deliveries over the past few days. The police are working to remove protestors from sites so normal deliveries can resume.” 

“Fuels continue to be delivered, meaning stocks are being replenished,” said the UKPIA UK Petroleum Industry Association. “The ongoing protest activity is affecting some deliveries but disruptions are localised and short-term only. The industry is working hard to ensure fuels are being delivered as quickly as possible.” 

Panic buying can also cause issues however, as in a crisis drivers fill up earlier than they would usually to ensure they don't get caught out, or completely fill tanks when they might just top up with a smaller amount. 

There are other longer-term reasons for the shortages though. Although Britain is far less reliant on Russian oil than many mainland European countries, government figures show that 18 per cent of Britain’s un-refined diesel originates in Russia, and the UK wants to end all Russian oil imports by the end of this year. Diesel supplies are already said to be tight. 

Whether the current fuel supply issues are a blip or something more serious remains to be seen, but electric car drivers should resist being smug. Many filling stations also host charging stations, and access to these will often be closed off along with the pumps if there is no fuel. 

Many electric car chargers are housed in fuel stations and could be closed too when fuel supplies run low