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Page added on July 14, 2009
Three Plans for Fuel Emergencies
Three plans for fuel emergencies have recently been released by UK public sector agencies. This review compares the three plans, highlights certain points from each, and provides internet links to the documents.
DECC’s Business Continuity Management for Fuel Shortages (Nov. 08)
Although DECC is now the lead ministry during fuel emergencies, their document is the shortest (10 pages) of the three plans and overlooks some fundamental information which is contained in the other two.
DECC warns that local fuel supplies “could be exhausted within 48 hours of an [extreme] incident and it could take up to 10 days before stock levels are fully restored” (p.2).
DECC’s Maximum Purchasing Scheme would limit purchase for non-essential users (ie. the general public) to a maximum of 15 litres (roughly 3 gallons) per purchase.
This appears to be an impractical strategy for two reasons:
1. History: In USA during the 1979 crisis they limited purchases to a $5 maximum, a similar volume. As Daniel Yergin states, “The results were exactly the opposite of what was intended, for it meant that motorists had to come back to gas stations that much more frequently” (The Prize, p. 692).
2. Common sense: Citizens who are worried about their fuel supply will continually be tempted to top up their tanks. Topping-up creates line-ups which waste time & fuel and increase tensions at the pumps. As Yergin further points out,
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