Petrol stations appear to be running out of fuel as Brits scramble to fill up their vehicles before oil prices surge to ‘record levels’.
The conflict in the Middle East has affected the transport of fuel to the West after companies suspended sailing through the Strait of Hormuz following Iranian attacks on ships and ports.
Oil prices have subsequently skyrocketed, with the global benchmark Brent crude hiking by approximately 13 per cent to the highest level recorded since July 2024.
But drivers were told ‘not to panic buy’ petrol and diesel by the AA on Monday ahead of a possible increase in costs – advice many Brits appear to have ignored.
Valero Garage in Beckenham, south London, completely ran out of petrol on Monday evening after dozens of locals rushed to fill their tanks up.
A worker revealed that some residents even arrived with petrol cans in a bid to boost their longer-term fuel supplies.
Signs reading, ‘Sorry out of use’, were also spotted at the nearby BP fuel station in Croydon.
Elsewhere, pictures from stations across the nation showed thousands of Brits refueling before prices are rumoured to surge.
At Costco Vauxhall and Go 24 Hour Express in Kirkdale, Liverpool, queues for pumps stretched beyond stations onto nearby roads.
Meanwhile, 35 miles away in Greater Manchester, dozens of vehicles were seen waiting for fuel at the Trafford Centre.
The US-Israeli conflict with Iran entered its third day on Monday as the Gulf nation continued its retaliatory attacks on nations such as Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus.
Two ships in the Strait of Hormuz were hit on Sunday morning, leaving one on fire and four mariners injured. The crew of one vessel named Skylight were later evacuated.
A third strike then occurred 35 miles off the coast of the UAE in the afternoon when, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), ‘an unknown projectile exploded in very close proximity to a vessel’. It added that all crew were safe and well.
The threat of further attacks proved too great a risk for a host of shipping companies, as the likes of Maersk and CMA CGM refused to head into the 100-mile Strait – which is just 24 miles wide at its narrowest point – where the Persian Gulf flows into the Arabian Sea.
Some 20 per cent of the world’s oil – about 20 million barrels per day – and 25 per cent of liquefied natural gas is transported through the passage, which Iran briefly closed during live fire drills.
OPEC (the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) stood accused of cashing in on the crisis in the Middle East as prices have already climbed 20 per cent this year as markets anticipated the attack on Iran.
Insurers are reportedly declining to cover ships passing through the Strait, where UKMTO said it is aware of ‘significant military activity’. The US said it could not guarantee ships’ safety and experts predict the disruption could last for days.
Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project, said: ‘Closure of the Strait of Hormuz would disrupt roughly a fifth of globally traded oil overnight – and prices wouldn’t just spike, they would gap violently upward on fear alone. The shock would reverberate far beyond energy markets, tightening financial conditions, fuelling inflation and pushing fragile economies closer to recession in a matter of weeks.’
It’s thought that European gas prices have rocketed 40 per cent since the conflict erupted on Friday, with stock markets falling around the world today. Analysts fear a fresh bout of inflation driven by disruption to energy markets.
Neil Wilson, of Saxo Markets, said: ‘We are a long way off 2022 in terms of pricing but if LNG to Europe is effectively shut via Hormuz for a prolonged period we could see chaos. I am much more concerned about European natural gas prices than oil prices.’
Retaliatory missiles sent by Iran were prompted by the killing of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Drones have since rained down on a host of nations in the Gulf, with Cyprus later becoming a target too.
Sardar Jabbari, a senior commander of the country’s military, warned on Monday: ‘The Americans have moved most of their aircraft to Cyprus. We will launch missiles at Cyprus with such intensity that the Americans will be forced to leave the island.’
President Donald Trump has however shown no signs of backing down, and didn’t rule out deploying US troops in Iran ‘if they were necessary’.
The American leader also revealed that the conflict could last up to four weeks.
He said: ‘I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground – like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground. I say “probably don’t need them,” (or) “if they were necessary.”‘
Trump also struck a defiant tone about the possible political consequences of such an action, telling the outlet ‘I don’t care about polling.’
‘Look, whether polling is low or not, I think the polling is probably fine. But it’s not a question of polling. You cannot let Iran, who’s a nation that has been run by crazy people, have a nuclear weapon,’ the President explained.
In a separate interview, Trump alluded to major forthcoming action in Iran.
‘We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.’
BP has been contacted for comment by the Daily Mail.
