The war in Ukraine is a key factor in the volatility of energy prices in the UK as relations between Moscow and the West become even more frosty. One solution to the problem is to switch to electric motors, specialists say.
The UK, US and EU imposed a series of sanctions on Russia, including the import of Russian oil and gas, but the UK stopped short of an outright ban and instead hopes to phase out its dependence on Moscow in the coming months.
The war in Ukraine has caused a huge shock to the already volatile market and with five percent of Russian oil – five million barrels per day – taken off the market, we are likely to see further price swings.
Simon Geale, purchasing director for supply chain consultancy Proxima, told Express.co.uk: “All supply chains thrive on predictability.
“The moment they get unpredictable, they crash. Things come late, things don’t show up, prices go up and things get a little chaotic.”
He said “rationing is an option”, which is “a strategy designed to maintain a level of predictability in the system”.
Germany is a country that is preparing for a possible switch to fuel rationing next winter in case Vladimir Putin cuts the gas pipelines which represent more than half of the country’s supply.
Earlier this month, Dr Amrita Sen, research director at Energy Aspects, told MPs that parts of Europe could face diesel rationing by April.
In a meeting in Parliament, she said: ‘I think diesel is where we fear rationing will happen as early as the end of this month in Germany. And I think you could absolutely see the repercussions in the UK as well.”
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“This means the fuel savings available to petrol and diesel drivers this year is a saving of £779 for petrol drivers and £738 for diesel drivers.”
Despite Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s recent announcement of fuel tax cuts, Mr Nelmes said it ‘won’t do much to reduce people’s annual fuel costs’ and depends ‘on goodwill’ fuel retailers to pass the savings on to motorists.
Even if retailers were to pass on the savings, New AutoMotive research estimates that a typical family with a 55-litre petrol car will only see a saving of around £3.30 for a full tank.
The electric vehicle expert concluded: “The best way to reduce costs for households and reduce our dependence on Russian diesel is to step up support for the transition to electric vehicles.”
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Source: www.express.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-27 06:51:00
