Britain faces fuel ‘self-rationing’ due to shortages ‘within weeks’ | UK | News
Fuel shortages could hit European households and businesses within weeks as the ongoing blockade of a critical shipping lane in the Gulf shows no sign of ending, the head of one of the world’s largest energy companies said.
Shell CEO Wael Sawan warned at an industry meeting in Houston, pointing to a cascading supply crisis that has already forced governments in Asia, including in Europe, to impose emergency energy measures.
“This is a ripple effect,” he reportedly said. “As we enter April, we first see this load in South Asia, moving towards southeast Asia, northeast Asia and then Europe.
“So we’re trying to work with governments to alert them to the levers they might need to pull, including demand-side measures, what they need to do about storage, what they need to do about buying shares, etc.”
How did the crisis arise?
Tehran’s decision to close the Strait of Hormuz effectively squeezed roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies from the Gulf and sent shockwaves through energy markets around the world, the Telegraph reported.
The International Energy Agency responded by urging member states to rein in consumption, putting forward proposals such as expanding working from home, lowering speed limits on motorways and switching to buses and trains.
The impact has been most severe in Asia, where dependence on Gulf energy is deep. Many governments have reduced the working week to four days, launched public campaigns to reduce home air conditioning, and banned non-essential foreign travel by civil servants.
Sawan reportedly warned European governments that similar restrictions may be inevitable before spring arrives; These measures have not been seen across the continent since fears of energy rationing affected governments in 2022.
The Royal Navy and allied planners are at the forefront of international efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with mine hunting drone systems being operated from chartered commercial ships potentially acting as mobile bases, military sources told the Telegraph.
Downing Street said on Tuesday night that the situation was being actively monitored, saying the country’s energy infrastructure remained diverse and robust enough to absorb disruptions.
Diplomacy and military pressure run parallel
Washington is planning an air attack on strategic islands off the Iranian coastline. Donald Trump He told reporters on Tuesday that back-channel peace talks with Tehran were continuing.
While Trump’s current envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been frozen out by Iranian officials who accuse them of “backstabbing” them in previous nuclear negotiations, Vice President JD Vance is now set to step in as a direct interlocutor, sources told The Telegraph.
Four weeks after the conflict began, financial analysts warned that a sustained energy crisis could send Britain’s economy into contraction. Drivers are already feeling the strain, with the RAC Foundation calculating that skyrocketing pump prices are draining hundreds of millions of pounds from motorists’ wallets.
Threat of self-sufficiency
According to the report, a senior figure in the UK energy sector acknowledged that the picture Sawan painted was “one of the worst-case scenarios, but still certainly possible”.
The source noted that he made a distinction between security of physical supply and price pressures that are currently squeezing consumers and businesses.
“Right now people are less concerned about the physical security of supply and more concerned about prices,” they said.
“Remember, even at the height of the last energy crisis, when we lost large amounts of gas from Europe, we managed to ensure security of supply.”
They suggested that the critical threshold could come between June and July.
“Obviously there comes a point where there are significant increases in prices and it’s hard to know exactly when, maybe in June or July, and the question becomes whether Europe is really willing to pay to get it.”
Beyond that point, prices could climb so steeply that households and businesses could begin cutting their own consumption without being told, the source warned; when rationing becomes a matter of economics rather than a government decision.
