Empty pumps

[Darksky]

Unbelievably people are draining the fuel pumps again

I get people are panicking about increasing prices but to empty the pumps!

we need diesel so on the way back from my mothers tonight we called at Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsburys. All were empty and the pumps closed. Again people aren’t filling up as normal, they are panicking about prices and filling to the brim and causing yet another shortage.

Anyone else noticed this or is it just idiots round here?

[spectrum123]

Seems only to be diesel though. All the stations I went past today had unleaded and no queues, but empty of diesel.
I suspect the trucks and vans have been told by their companies to fill up as prices are going up during the day around here?

[Lencoboy]

It's as if there's some kind of tribal element to this that some people seem to revel in the excitement of!

We saw it before with the previous bout of fuel panic buying last autumn, and of course with the early pandemic toilet roll panic buying exactly 2 years ago.

And don't get me started on Black Friday, though that's supposedly toned itself down a bit over more recent years.

[spectrum123]

My local garage, which I don't use as it was a rip before this, put fuel up twice a day for 3 days in a row, talk about cashing in.
Low income families could really be hit if prices are sustained or continue to increase, and we'll all pay the price with freight costs.

[pulisa]

I have a diesel car and the price is horrendous in the south east. I haven't noticed any shortages of diesel...yet...but no doubt it will happen. I have to take my daughter to her job at a farm which is out in the country but that's it.

[Darksky]

Well that was like going back in time to last Autumn.

we had to risk our scant fuel and see if we could get some this morning. Tesco must have had a delivery but the queues were off the forecourt and down the road. It was mayhem, plenty of horns being sounded.
I think we paid 1.65 for diesel but at least we have fuel.

We wouldn’t normally join the crazy party but my mother has a shed load of appointments to get to…legs, feet, hearing etc. Once you get appointments you have to hang onto them for dear life, or go back to the end of the queue.

But seeing what was happening this morning there will be empty pumps again by tonight

[Pamplemousse]

None of this going on in my part of the world, all seems sensible and normal. I paid about £1.55/litre for petrol today, bringing a tankful (which I needed as I'm at work three days this week and the yellow pump light was permanently lit) perilously close to £100.

Mind you, there's as much as 20p/litre difference between garages, and I think I saw £1.88 for a litre of diesel on my way home from work on Friday night?

[pulisa]

Diesel has been £1.79/litre here but it's fallen back a bit over the last couple of days.

I bet taxi fares are astronomical now.

Glad you got your diesel today, Darksky. I will try and get some myself tomorrow and thanks for the tip off.

[Lencoboy]

My dad put diesel in his Ford Kuga earlier today when he popped to B&Q to by a new tap for the kitchen sink (which I kindly helped him to fit), and he never saw any signs of fuel shortages nor any queues of vehicles snaking around the corner from the forecourt in pursuit of panic buying.

[Fishmanpa]

Here in the States, there's plenty of supply but yeah, the prices are going through the roof! My opinion of it is that there are no shortages here. Biden is blaming the Russian war with Ukraine but that's BS. The US gets 3% of its crude from Russia and only 1% of it is processed into gasoline. Others are blaming Biden for shutting down the XL pipeline but that's BS too. That pipeline was bringing tar sand from Canada and again, only a very small percentage was being processed into fuel. According to eia.gov, the US is exporting more than we ever have. We have ample supplies and reserves and despite the restrictions on drilling on some natural areas (which frankly, I'm glad to see), they have plenty of land to develop into oil and gas supplies.

No, again IMO, this is big oil corporate bending us over and sticking it to us. Think about it, they lost billions in the last two years with the demand falling through the floor during the pandemic and now?, we're coming out of the pandemic, people are returning to the workplace and traveling again and they have to make up the lost revenue. On top of that its political too. The tax breaks the oil companies get from mostly Republican politicians and the fact the corporations fund these politicians plays a part too. Then you have the Democrats pushing green energy and the picture becomes clearer.

All I know is I'm glad my SUV gets 25+ around town and I'm working from home. Heck, a tank lasts me a month+ but it does suck to be paying $30 more to fill it Inflation is another aspect of all this. Its like trickle down 'screw the people' economics. As an example, and I know its pennies but there are dozens of examples I can speak of, from this one to meats to everything else. I drink Gatorade Zero. Nearly zero calories, no sugar and electrolytes for healthy hydration. Been doing so for close to 10 years since my cancer. An 8pak cost $4.99 for as long as I can remember. Now it's a dollar more. And the bigger bottles? They have 32oz bottles that used to cost $.99 and slowly but surely they're phasing them out with 28oz bottles that cost $.20 more! The big corps are sticking it to us and we're powerless to stop them!

And as some have said, the media plays a big part of this as they distract from the reality. The almighty dollar speaks louder and is more powerful than anything else and greed, which has been part of human nature since the beginning of history, plays a big part too.

All we can and should be doing, is make the best of difficult situations and enjoy the blessings and positives in our lives.

FMP