Who gets first priority for petrol rationing confirmed by government

Petrol and diesel rationing plans are on the table and ready to be rolled out by government if the crisis in the Middle East continues to cause problems for supplies and push prices up.

This week, a Labour Treasury minister refused to rule out petrol and diesel rationing in the wake of the ongoing conflict in Iran and the supply issues on the Strait of Hormuz which have already caused a spike in petrol prices and scenes of shortages at some forecourts.

Government plans in place from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero under its National Emergency Plan for Fuel show exactly how rationing would work in practice should it be implemented and who would get first priority.

Prices at the pumps have shot up recently, with the RAC confirming the average cost of unleaded petrol is now 141.5p and diesel is 160.3p, both 18-month highs for fuel.

The National Emergency Plan for Fuel sets out who gets first dibs on fuel.

It says that emergency services and ‘critical service vehicles’ would be the first priority before all other drivers.

Then, utilities such as gas and electricity suppliers and water firms would get next priority, followed by public transport, such as buses and diesel trains.

Commercial vehicles would be next, such as lorries taking food to and from supermarkets, and health related deliveries.

Finally, general public drivers could face restrictions on the amount of petrol they can buy at a time, as well as be handed reduced opening hours at petrol stations.

The document explains: “The majority of potential fuel supply disruptions can be addressed by measures to help industry maintain fuel supply; these would be deployed by DESNZ in co-ordination with industry and other government departments. However, the government does have emergency powers under the Energy Act 1976, which it can use to control supply and demand of petroleum products. It should be noted that use of these emergency powers is reserved for the most severe of disruptions.

“These measures would only be activated in the event of a severe national fuel supply shortage.

• Designated Filling Station scheme: Emergency and critical service vehicles would be given priority access to road fuel from filling stations designated by the relevant Local Resilience Forum (Resilience Partnership in Scotland).
• Bulk Distribution Scheme: Oil companies and fuel distributors can be directed to prioritise the delivery of bulk petroleum products to critical services such as emergency services, utilities and public transport.
• Commercial Distribution Scheme: Oil companies and fuel distributors can be directed to prioritise the supply of road diesel to the commercial vehicles sector to support the operation of key supply chains, such as food and health.
• Maximum Purchase Scheme: This restricts the sale of road fuels at retail filling stations to the public to a maximum amount per visit to ensure that all motorists have access to some fuel. The scheme can also limit the hours in which road fuels can be sold.
• Crude Oil and Imported Product Allocation Scheme: Government can formally allocate crude oil and other imported oil products within the UK.

Asked if the Government was set to invoke such plans, Dan Tomlinson told Times Radio: “At the moment, it is too early to tell what the impact of this crisis will be in the coming months.

“What we have seen in the last two weeks is that there has been sharp increase in the cost of oil used to heat people’s homes, and the Government has stepped in and said we’re going to provide £50 million of support for people across the UK who are reliant on heating oil.”

Asked again whether the Government was making contingency plans to ration petrol, Mr Tomlinson said: “We will monitor the situation, and we’ll monitor it carefully.”

Louisa James, Political Correspondent at ITV’s Good Morning Britain, said on Tuesday morning: “There are experts warning that a severe shortage of oil and gas is now just weeks away. As you would expect the government has emergency plans in place which will be activated in the event of a severe disruption.

“Those are published online and they include things like petrol rationing, giving emergency services and public transport priority for fuel. Also reportedly a temporary 50mph speed limit to reduce demand for fuel.

“A government source told us that the UK has ‘a diverse and resilient’ supply of fuel, that petrol stations are well stocked, that imports are arriving.”