UK transport minister says country is not facing diesel shortage

UK diesel price hits record 199.72p as Fawley refinery prepares 10-week maintenance

UK Transport Minister Keir Mather said on Friday that the UK is not facing a diesel shortage, moving to avert panic at the pumps after President Donald Trump threatened to cut off US supplies of the fuel. Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Mather said the UK’s diesel supply is “inherently resilient” because it draws from multiple sources.

“I want to reassure people that they can still go to the pump and fill up with diesel because the supply we have to the UK is inherently resilient,” Mather said. “The flows of diesel into the UK come from a variety of sources, and that is resilient. The government’s obligation now is to work really closely with our partners [in Europe] and officials in the US administration to re-stress how important it is to have flows of diesel into the UK.”

The UK draws about 30% of its diesel from the United States, with the vast majority coming from mainland Europe, and holds enough in reserve to cover 42 days. The UK now operates just four refineries, down from 18 in the 1980s.

Earlier this week it emerged that Fawley, the UK’s biggest refinery in Hampshire, is set to shut down for up to 10 weeks for planned maintenance. On Thursday the UK opened talks with European allies over releasing emergency diesel supplies, after the Trump administration told Germany and France to release their stockpiles to help ease soaring prices or face a US supply ban.

Dan Jørgensen, the European Union’s commissioner for energy, said on Friday that Europe was discussing the question of emergency diesel reserves with all members of the International Energy Agency, not only the United States. “This is one of the opportunities that we have; we have used it before, and it is likely that we would use it again,” Jørgensen told Euronews.

The average price of a litre of diesel in the UK hit an all-time high of 199.72p on Wednesday, according to the RAC, the motoring organization. The RAC has called on the government to extend its freeze on fuel duty into spring.

Mather pointed to the existing duty freeze as evidence the government is responding. “Although prices have gone up at the pump, the government is aware of that, and the freeze in fuel duty is still in place,” he said. “People shouldn’t be concerned about shortages because of the inherent resilience that is built into that system.”

The government has already extended a 5p cut in fuel duty until the end of the year. “We need to give people support where we can,” Mather said on GMB. “The government is not powerless. That is why we have a fuel duty freeze in place at the moment. The chancellor will set out the future of that at the budget, but is very aware of the impact that [high prices] are having on people.”