I work in a main hospital in London and without giving too much detail away, I can confirm that this panic buying of fuel is now affecting the healthcare sector.

If restocking is fine then the government would have just said that there's no issue, just wait for tomorrow and everything would be fine. Way harder to hoard fuel like toilet rolls, and those who filled up but don't need to drive would not be refuelling.

Instead, the government is bringing in temp visas, suspending competition laws, having the army on standby and exploring rationing. It is because there is indeed a supply issue (not at the terminals, but in getting the fuel to the forecourts). The few BP forecourts running out that triggered this episode were simply the tip of the iceberg of wider stock level issues, which was kept hidden in conversations between oil companies and the government until it was leaked to the media.

/r/london Thread Parent