Britain’s Gas Crisis, Explained

In an effort to attract drivers, the government has increased the number of hours they can work each day and has sped up the licensing process. It has also offered 5,000 three-month work visas to foreign truckers and to suspend rules that prevent oil companies from coordinating deliveries.

But some government critics say that may not be enough to address the long-running shortage of drivers. About 200,000 E.U. citizens left Britain during the pandemic, on top of the thousands who have left since 2016, when Britain voted in a referendum to leave the European Union and signaled it would impose limits on immigration from the bloc. That has made it harder for companies — including those in the haulage, hospitality and food supply sectors — to fill empty positions with overseas hires

The military is on standby in case the situation worsens.

The government’s reserve tanker fleet will be delivering fuel over the coming days to ease the shortage, Kwasi Kwarteng, Britain’s business secretary, tweeted on Wednesday.

He also said there were signs that the situation had begun to improve. More gas stations reported that they had fuel than in recent days, according to the Petrol Retailers Association. Officials are hoping that normal purchasing patterns will resume now that many Britons have rushed to fill up their tanks over the past few days, alleviating the pressure on supplies.

But if the fuel crisis worsens, the government has put 150 military tanker drivers on standby.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/world/europe/why-uk-fuel-shortage.html