Britain facing fresh oil supply crisis, warn independents

[lovuian]

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article336415.ece
Britain is in the grip of a fresh oil crisis, with supplies to hospitals, petrol stations and households all under threat, according to independent wholesalers and retailers.

NHS Trusts on interruptible gas contracts have begun frantically shopping around for oil supplies to heat hospitals, while petrol stations in the South-east are said to be begging independent wholesalers for fresh stocks.

Some heating oil distributors are reported to be refusing to supply business or domestic customers because they do not know when they will be able to get new stocks, and householders who rely on oil to heat their homes are facing delays in getting supplies just as the country braces itself for a cold snap
more...

Maybe the Iraqis aren't going to be the only ones in gas lines...

http://search.hp.netscape.com/hp/boomframe.jsp?query=Independent&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Dbd06660e26d1c69%26clickedItemRank%3D1%26userQuery%3DIndependent%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.independent.co.uk%252F%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DHPBoom%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.co.uk%2F

[julianer]

1. The linked page doesn't seem to

carry such a story. It's not on the BBC web site either. Have you got a better link?

[lovuian]

2. Try this one...

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article336415.ece

[julianer]

3. Cheers

This is really depressing.

The 'lesson' being drawn by all the unthinking pundits is that, unsuprisingly, the government's lusting after nuclear power is the only option. (I heard this on the BBC this morning in relation to the gas pipleline shenanigans).

We can't seem to draw the lesson of using our own fuel resources (coal) or of making use of our massive renewable capacity.

[EuroObserver]

4. Develop "clean" coal technologies, I guess,

and of course technologies to harness those renewable resources - tidal, offshore wind, solar.

Add maybe a little long-term but very safe and clean nuke capacity in the mix - but that's very slow and expensive.

The quickest and most efficient and cost-effective way to go: icrease energy-use efficiency. Start by requiring high standards of insulation, + solar water-heating, to new homes and offices, then apply the same to existing buildings.

Limit use of jet-aircraft.

Eliminate gas-guzzling motor vehicles.

[NuttyFluffers]

6. y'know, UK probably could've used that war money for this issue...

all the pound notes that could've gone into investing in a sustainable energy infrastructure...

but think of it this way, us yanks blew mountains more cash away in this stupidity, and we have even less to show for it than the british! :D
at least the british aren't as hated in the world as the americans are now. you took only 2 steps back, we seemed to have turned wholly around and made a mad sprint for disintegration! yay! you're ahead!
:evilgrin:

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I found a petrol station with no petrol just before Christmas

(it still had diesel), to my annoyance, since I'd spent 20 minutes in a traffic jam trying to get to it (not caused by the lack of petrol, but it didn't help it - I passed a tanker, caught in the jam, presumably heading for the station, on the way out). I put it down to the Buncefield fire at the time - just a cockup in the subsequent logistics around the south east of England - but now I'm not so sure.