Why 80% petrol pumps in UK are out of fuel?

In the past week, crazy scenes of panic buying from petrol stations in the UK have surfaced, with local media reports suggesting that the situation remains chaotic at a majority of petrol pumps across the country.

Videos circulating on social media show miles of queues outside gas stations alongside panicked citizens who stockpile as much gas as they can, even in small water bottles.

Gas stations, which normally sell between 20,000 and 30,000 litres of fuel per day, are now witnessing sales of over 1,00,000 litres. Panic buying at some UK petrol stations has even led to fierce battles.

The situation is so critical that the British Medical Association (BMA) has requested fuel stations that health workers must be given priority access to fuel because they have to make sure the health care system does not collapse. [caption id="attachment_37887" align="aligncenter" width="540"] Long queues outside fuel stations in UK[/caption]

The crisis is happening because of a shortage of truck drivers; there are not enough transportations to take the fuel from one place to another. As per some experts, it is the result of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. Many of the European drivers departed UK to work somewhere else after the BREXIT. The tightened rules and tax amendments made it hard for the European workers to continue their services in the country as BREXIT had directly impacted their daily income in Britain.

COVID-19 also has a part to play, many lorry drivers went back to their home countries after the lockdowns in the UK, but the majority of them never came back even after the restrictions were lifted.

Fearing that the issue would get further out of control, the British government has now put the army on standby to deal with the fuel crisis. The government said that the problem is not with the shortage and that the country has sufficient fuel reserves.

Major oil companies operating, among others Shell, ExxonMobil and Greenenergy have noted that there is no deficiency of fuel in the UK. The government and the significant companies state the cause of the problem is panic buying.

As a result, a majority of fuel pumps in the UK are out of petrol while most run on the edge. Around two-thirds of 5,500 independent businesses under the Petroleum Retailers Association (PRA) were out of fuel on Monday, and the rest could run out quickly.