How long before fuel rationing?

Tbh though perhaps they should ration it.

It doesn’t make sense. The thing that is going to make us run out is people doing this.

If everyone carries on as normal, it’s much more likes we’ll all get through this fine.

If people panic buy (which is what you’re describing) it all goes to shit and fuel will need to be rationed.

Keeping you tank fairly full is almost understandable but filling up Jerry cans is really not on.

I have no choice but to fuel as my cars essential for my job & many others will be in the same boat. I put in a full tank which will hopefully last me till the end of this week. It does sting a bit though that prices are rising at the pump & I'm only getting 45p per mile.

Some might but the issue is some leaders who have oil and allow or disallow access to other oil due to geography are not likely to join in and be compliant with pretty much anything.

Peak oil production was about 15 years ago so now we’re in the situation where we need to reduce demand to avoid constant price shocks. The easily extracted oil is basically gone so we’re looking at even more expensive, dangerous and difficult extraction - including fracking. The fossil fuel era needs to come to an end as it’s going to anyway in fifty years when we run out completely but there’s still a use for petroleum for lots of applications. Burning fuels at the rate we are for the next fifty years will make much of our planet unliveable. There’s already been two price shocks in last few years and people are still bleating that net zero which would cost less than those is unaffordable.

None of this is scaremongering. Rationing which may be used as part of a managed transition is a sensible thing to consider.

also sensible is international agreements, limits on how much profit may be made by fossil fuel companies and equitable plan for transition. I don’t see the US participating in that but other countries with high demand could and should.

We decided yesterday to replace my partners diesel car with an electric. We've already had enough of this after the last set of fuel problems - and have the feeling this will get considerably worse. I have been driving electric for a year and just can't believe how cheap they are to run (charging from home).
Used ev shopping today, hopefully can trade in his car without too much of a hit.

I can't explain why your government is doing absolutely nothing, I don't live in the UK.

We should drill but that will not decrease prices but we will be more eco not having to import as much

Hate to burst your bubble but the oil industry exploration Divisions are looking at oil sources now around Englands coastline .The surveys continue and in fact have ramped up.

Tesco ran out of fuel both petrol and diesel down here in Kent yesterday.

Tesco were out of diesel where I live.
I saw someone saying Tesco often runs out of petrol anyway. I don't know as I don't go there.

@damelza

Thanks for taking the time to post that...what he said makes sense to me and ties in with other opinions I've read.

I know MOL isn't many people's favourite CEO but he's usually worth listening to when it comes to financial side of things and some operational matters.

This is what he said, for info if you haven't seen it, taken from the Irish Times which is paywalled.

Disruptions to jet fuel supply are expected from “early May” if the war continues beyond the end of April, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has said.
“The fuel companies are happy there won’t any disruption until early May. But if the war continues, we do run the risk of supply disruptions in Europe in May and June,” he said, speaking on Sky News on Wednesday.
“Obviously, we hope the war will finish sooner than that and that the risk to supply will be eliminated.”
O’Leary said Ryanair was “reasonably well hedged” on 80 per cent of its fuel but added it is paying almost double (at around $150 a barrel) on the other 20 per cent.
He said if the war ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens by the end of this month, “then there’s no risk to supply”.
“Like everybody else in the industry, we hope that this war will end sooner rather than later,” he said.

https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2026/04/01/iran-war-latest-trump-us-news-israel-oil/#76719

Of course it's bollocks. Using a non approved container is illegal and this would be about as non approved as possible. I doubt there's a petrol station in the UK that would allow this to happen!

With regard to the various mentions about hedging all that does in basic terms is guarantee with an agent/broker the price per tonne, barrel or whatever for x months down the road,
What is doesn't do is guarantee the broker can actually get the fuel ..

However, we live in a country where people think tweaking mortgage rates is a substitute for building houses.

I'd be inclined to listen to the likes of MOL on that one.

With regard to the various mentions about hedging all that does in basic terms is guarantee with an agent/broker the price per tonne, barrel or whatever for x months down the road,

What is doesn't do is guarantee the broker can actually get the fuel ..

So it in theory would be perfectly possible to be hedged through until the autumn but not be able to actually fuel the aircraft up in a month or two....

Im optimistic about it all. Whatever happens, change is good.

Cutting VAT will just make the supply issues worse

We need all of it, be pragmatic. A country that maximises energy will do better and that can be a mix. Don’t limit one of those if you don’t have to yet.

The difference is that nuclear power should be forming part of our energy mix, whereas fossil fuels are on the way out.

Literally wouldn’t need fuel rationing if people just bought fuel as they usually would do.

I drive long distance for work and only fill up when my tank is empty - to give an example I’ve done 1800 business miles in the last month, never mind personal miles too.

However around our way there are constant queues at petrol stations clearly from people constantly keeping their tank topped up

I appreciate people are keeping topped up whilst the prices are at the level they are in fear they will rocket, however all this is doing is pushing prices up due to ‘supply and demand’ - garages are proving they can charge through the roof and (stupid) people are willingly flocking

It is when you have based your entire economy on ironing out any and all inefficiencies that could protect you.

A lot of supposedly "clever" people totally fail to grasp that if you are running your company at 100% efficiency then you have fuck all room for resilience.

When COVID hit, quite a few companies I had worked with bitterly regretted their devotion to "lean" as it meant losing a single worker halted complete projects.

A good rule of thumb is to be accepting of 15% "inefficiency" (a figure you will notice is greater than 12).

This thread is a good example of why the UK is so pisspoor at planning.

I thought Germany’s economy got hit harder than most due to the reliance on Russian oil and gas?

Michael O'Leary stated this morning that Ryanair's aviation fuel could be curtailed from May. I've no idea whether that's another publicity stunt to get us all going away now 😊or if it's a weather vane from those in the industry. That company is usually good at hedging its fuel.

And all for net zero. Look how much more cushioned Germany are from energy rises. They were sensible to make their own. Obviously governments which sell oil eg USA(and their supporters) will disagree, as they profit from our slow approach.