Drivers face petrol shortages as climate protesters block fuel terminals

Drivers in parts of the South East complained of shortages at petrol pumps as protests continued outside major fuel depots for the fourth day in a row.

Demonstrators from Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Just Stop Oil have been blockading roads used to access oil refineries near London and Birmingham since Friday, preventing tanker trucks from leaving or entering.

It has led to more than 200 arrests and reports from drivers of fuel shortages in locations including Folkestone, Dover and Gillingham, in Kent.

As many as 10 oil refineries were initially targeted on Friday but by Monday only the Esso West London Oil Terminal near Heathrow Airport was still being blocked, an Esso spokesman said.

In Thurrock, Essex, demonstrators dug tunnels underneath the roads leading to the Inter Terminals UK and Navigator oil terminals, preventing vehicles from coming and going.

Essex Police, which made more than 170 arrests, said some protestors remained “in situ” on Monday afternoon.

Rachel Nolan, assistant chief constable, said: “Our aim is to bring the areas affected back to normality as quickly as possible.

“I want to again emphasise that policing is not anti-protest, and we will always endeavour to facilitate protest where we can.

“However, we must intervene when there is a risk to life or where laws are being broken – and we will continue to do so.”

The chaos prompted calls for ministers to “get on top” of the disruption, with FairFuelUK saying it was being “bombarded” by messages informing them that forecourts across the UK were short of petrol and diesel because of the “narrow-minded” protestors. 

Howard Cox, the group’s founder, called on Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, to “protect the supply of petrol and diesel to our garage forecourts”. 

He said: “Don’t let panic buying take over again with those long unnecessary queues we saw last year when you failed to act.

“Our economy and millions of daily lives depend on their vehicles.”

Just Stop Oil has called on the Government to “end new oil and gas projects in the UK” immediately, due to climate change concerns, while XR accused oil companies of “destroying life”.

Drivers on Twitter reported fuel shortages at forecourts in parts of Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire, as well as Norfolk, however petrol retailers insisted these issues were not widespread. 

A spokesman for Esso said that there had been no “significant” disruption, while Sainsbury’s, the country’s biggest petrol retailer, said it was “not seeing any issues”. 

Simon Williams of the RAC, said: “We are aware that protests on Friday and Saturday at 10 fuel terminals in the South East and Midlands caused some disruption to planned deliveries.

“This included tanker drivers being prevented from leaving terminals to deliver fuel to forecourts and some damage to vehicles and property.

“We understand that operations are now back to normal which will mean forecourts will receive new supplies very soon.”

It comes as families prepare for Easter getaways, with demand for staycations expected to remain higher than it was before the pandemic.

More families may be forced to remain in the UK over the Easter break amid travel chaos with cancelling hundreds of flights which they have blamed on staff shortages.

Meanwhile, families are facing steeper prices at the pumps, as the war in Ukraine sparks fears over a squeeze on gas supplies.

Rishi Sunak sought to ease pressure on petrol and diesel prices in his Spring Statement by cutting fuel duty by 5p a litre.

However, figures last week suggested this had yet to feed across into the prices paid by customers, with Experian Catalist saying the average price per litre of petrol was down 3.7p per litre a week ago compared to the week earlier.

The AA said diesel was down 2.5p at the pump over the same period. 

Luke Bosdet from the AA said: “Why are drivers not surprised that on average a third of the petrol saving has yet to be passed on at the pumps?”