{"id":4299,"date":"2026-03-19T12:41:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=4299"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:41:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:41:32","slug":"uk-plans-for-fuel-emergency-revealed-from-50mph-speed-limits-to-rations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=4299","title":{"rendered":"UK plans for fuel emergency revealed, from 50mph speed limits to rations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"UK plans for fuel emergency revealed, from 50mph speed limits to rations\" width=\"620\" height=\"500\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"w-full object-cover rounded-md\" style=\"color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' viewBox='0 0 620 500'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAQAAACEN3D\/AAAAL0lEQVR42mP4z8DAwMiAARgZGJhY+P\/\/PwMDAwPDfwYGBgaGhgYGhgYGAAD9Hwlr5xRngAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg=='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, (max-width: 1100px) 620px, 620px\" src=\"\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=360&amp;q=75 360w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=414&amp;q=75 414w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=640&amp;q=75 640w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=768&amp;q=75 768w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=1024&amp;q=75 1024w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=1280&amp;q=75 1280w, \/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=1536&amp;q=75 1536w\" bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.joe.co.uk\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F07%2Ffuel-prices.jpg%3Fheight%3D576%26width%3D1024&amp;w=1536&amp;q=75\"\/><!--$--><\/p>\n<p><h2>As the Iran war drags on<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose drop-cap \">\n<p>The UK government has insisted that there is currently no prospect of shortages, while existing plans allow for extreme measures to be taken if petrol stocks run low.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The plans allow for lower speed limits and petrol rationing to be imposed to cope with any fuel shortage, while the measures would also potentially see fuel prioritised for the emergency services, as measures that could help supplies running out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The plans have been put into sharp focus due to the Iran war, however they have been in place since 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>In the UK, the costs of petrol, diesel and heating oil have already gone through the roof thanks to the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on oil refineries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>And if the conflict in the Middle East drags on, the government could be forced to ration energy, a top expert this warned this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Ex-head of strategy at BP and a former advisor to Labour PM Gordon Brown, Nick Butler, warned that \u201cthere will be a real, physical shortage of supply in a few weeks\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>\u201cHow long that goes on we don\u2019t know, but I think the government here must now be preparing for a significant shortfall of supply over the next two months.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>\u201cI think it does mean a form of rationing. I think we learnt from the tanker drivers dispute in 2000 that oil and gas supplies are absolutely crucial to the running of the economy and you can\u2019t bring on new supplies quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Reportedly, the National Emergency Plan for Fuel, which is available on the gov.uk website, includes limiting speeds to 50mph on all roads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>However, the plans exist but they were there only for emergencies, the government has said, while adding that said petrol stations in the UK were well-stocked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>Last year, around 90% of the crude oil refined in the UK was imported and only around 1% of that imported crude came from the Middle East, a spokesperson pointed out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The AA and others have been keen to stress that drivers should fill up as normal, as most is sourced from countries such as the United States, and Norway, supplemented by smaller volumes from other producers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><!--$--><\/p>\n<div class=\"custom-prose  \">\n<p>The RAC, meanwhile, has revealed how pump prices continue to rise, as unleaded has risen to an average of 142.62p, while diesel up to 162.66p a litre.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--\/$--><\/div>\n<p>#plans #fuel #emergency #revealed #50mph #speed #limits #rations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the Iran war drags on The UK government has insisted that there is currently no prospect of shortages, while existing plans allow for extreme measures to be taken if petrol stocks run low. The plans allow for lower speed limits and petrol rationing to be imposed to cope with any fuel shortage, while the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4368,1961,27,4367,613,4370,1883,79,4371,1465,4369,1633],"class_list":{"0":"post-4299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"tag-50mph","9":"tag-emergency","10":"tag-fuel","11":"tag-fuel-crisis","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-limits","14":"tag-middle-east","15":"tag-plans","16":"tag-rations","17":"tag-revealed","18":"tag-speed","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}