UK:Only 25% of filling stations have fuel

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Only 25% of filling stations have fuel

A quarter of filling stations are expected to be ready for business today but it could take two weeks before supplies are back to normal.

Refuelled petrol stations were soon running dry as queues of drivers laid siege to forecourts all over the country.

There are fears that further petrol price rises could be imminent after the price of crude oil rose again yesterday.

Although oil companies have been ferrying fuel to priority service stations, companies said it could be two weeks before motorists are able to fill up without queuing.

The Government hotline set up to help essential users find supplies is expected to receive up to a million calls this weekend.

By the end of yesterday, oil companies were on course to have made deliveries to 3,300 filling stations designated as a priority by the Government.

But a Shell spokesman said: "The trouble is, as soon as deliveries are made, the stations run dry again. The tankers are being followed for miles by queues of motorists desperate to see where the fuel is being delivered."

Welsh First Secretary Rhodri Morgan issued a stark warning that the panic buying of fuel last weekend could be repeated this weekend with food, adding that the situation in Wales was "absolutely critical".

The fuel crisis will have cost businesses #1 billion - the equivalent of #40 per household - by the time it has ended, the Institute of Directors warned.

Air travellers were hit with British Airways announcing an increase in fares by 3% because of rising fuel prices. Virgin also announced a 3% increase and the Dutch carrier KLM 4%.

Last updated: 03:31 Saturday 16th September 2000.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_61667.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 16, 2000


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