UK Government Suspends Competition Law to Tackle Fuel-Supply Crisis -- 2nd Update
September 27 2021 - 5:10AM
Dow Jones News
By Jaime Llinares Taboada
The U.K. government has exempted the fuel-retail industry from a
competition law to ease the supply issues affecting the country's
petrol stations, as BP PLC confirmed that one-third of its U.K.
network had run out of fuel.
After a meeting with industry executives, the government on
Sunday agreed to temporarily exempt companies from the Competition
Act 1998 for sharing information and optimizing supply.
"While there has always been and continues to be plenty of fuel
at refineries and terminals, we are aware that there have been some
issues with supply chains. This is why we will enact the Downstream
Oil Protocol to ensure industry can share vital information and
work together more effectively to ensure disruption is minimized,"
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said.
In a statement distributed on Sunday, BP confirmed that around
30% of its U.K. sites didn't have either of the main grades of
fuel. Supply problems were exacerbated by intense demand over the
weekend, with U.K. drivers running to buy fuel amid fears of
shortages. The energy company said it was working to resupply as
quickly as possible.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported higher than normal demand at its
service stations since Friday, which was resulting in some sites
running low on some grades.
"We are replenishing these quickly, usually within 24 hours," a
spokesperson for the Anglo-Dutch company said.
Over the weekend, the U.K. government announced increases in
heavy goods vehicle testing, short-term visas for HGV drivers and
new HGV skills bootcamps.
The U.K. Petroleum Industry Association on Friday said that some
forecourts had temporarily run out of grades of fuel due to delays
in the supply chain due to hauler driver shortages.
On Thursday, BP told Dow Jones Newswires that it was
experiencing fuel-supply issues at some of its U.K. retail sites,
with "a handful" of sites temporarily closed due to a lack of
unleaded and diesel grades.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com;
@JaimeLlinaresT
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 27, 2021 04:55 ET (08:55 GMT)
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