I've noticed over the last 4 or 5 days that every filling station I've passed has had queues. The local shell station closed unexpectedly yesterday afternoon, stating problems with the pumps. The local Tesco had half its pumps out of action and those that were running were only operating at a fraction of their usual speed. Texaco around the corner also has half the pumps out. Further afield and the story is repeated at another Shell, an Esso and a Sainsbury filling station.
Prices are around 90.9 for unleaded and 93.9 for diesel at all these stations.
So is there now a shortage as a result of Katrina et al and are the suppliers and retailers keeping quiet about it to prevent repeats of the pitiful scenes we say the other week?
As an aside, both cars were on the amber light yesterday so the better part of £120 of my hard-earned got divvied up between the retailer (very little), the oil company (some) and Gordon (lots). Bless 'im.
And by bless I mean curse.
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I had heard that, a couple of weeks ago, our multinationals were shipping petrol from Europe to USA, to ease the shortage there. I too have seen queues but I guessed it was low users, who didn't fill up at £1/litre 2 weeks ago, filling up now as they were really low on fuel, like you.
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I seem to remember that after the last shortage my local station had trouble with the pumps for a while, basically because they were never designed for the tnaks to be run so low.
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My two local Esso stations seemed to be out or running out of 95 RON unleaded, so I had to buy super unleaded the other day.
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On a couple of occasions recently at two different filling stations I have been turned back as they are closing early, no problems with fuel availability so I asked why. It was simply that they havent got the staff to work the extra shifts, this is particularly a problem at weekends. There are contantly positions vacant signs
on the filling stations around me.
StarGazer
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They certainly don't pay well. There is an outlet near me which is running 12 pumps, 2 car washes and a 'convenience' store with one memebr of staff (visible) and this is often a late teenage lady. The security implications are horrendous, particularly as a garage at the other end of town suffered an armed robbery last week. Very low pay, low staff levels and way too much responsibility for one young person of either sex IMHO.
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havn't seen any queues here in oxfordshire
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Turbo11,
I am in Oxfordshire, so agree not many queues, but often closing early.
StarGazer
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Now I think about it, two local stations have had some pumps roped off for the past week or so.
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My closest Shell station is supposed to be 24 hour, but it was closed when I passed late on Thursday night. They have no staff for 10pm-6am shift and at the new minimum wage level of £5.05 per hour I'm not surprised.
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Could be it's the end of the month, pay day for some, same reason supermarkets are busy at the end of the month.
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No shortage, simply reduced retail margins meaning pressure on staff costs, reducing opening hours reduces staff costs, in rural areas customers have little choice so the same amount of fuel is bought over fewer hours in the day hence the perception is that the forecourt is busier.
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At 90.9 for unleaded no wonder you have queues, I'm paying 93.9 at the supermarkets, needless to say there is plenty available!
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There are queues in Greenwich, but then unleaded is only 89.9p
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It seems to me that at the end of every month retail sees a lift in all areas including fuel sales. Its a pay weekend and people feel rich again and as such plan trips out for the weekend etc. Watch out for the next pay weekend 30 & 31 Oct. Bet you see the same thing!
--
\" Keep doing the same old thing, youll get the same old thing, try something different today!\"
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All thats happened, is all the low volume purchasers, a fiver today, a tenner tomorrow motorists, that brimmed their tanks, a couple of weeks back, have used their surpless.
Now they'll be back to their normal buying pattern.
VB
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It seems to me that at the end of every month retail sees a lift in all areas including fuel sales. Its a pay weekend and people feel rich again and as such plan trips out for the weekend etc. Watch out for the next pay weekend 30 & 31 Oct. Bet you see the same thing!
>>Not sure about about this - as most people seem to pay by credit card these days, the pain isn't as immediate as when handing over a wad of notes.
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our local texaco was closed for a day last week.
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