Petrol stations face closure as fuel sales drop by 75 per cent
SHOCK WARNING Travel restrictions and self-isolating staff cause slump in sales and station closures
PETROL stations in rural areas across the UK are facing closure thanks to a combination of staff self-isolating due to coronavirus symptoms, and a dramatic fall in sales while the UK lockdown to slow the spread of the virus continues.
The warning has come as the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) highlights the volume of unleaded sold by UK forecourts has fallen by 75 per cent, while the amount of diesel being bought has dropped by 71 per cent. This dramatic decline comes while UK citizens are barred from undertaking all but essential journeys, resulting in a huge drop in filling station sales.
PRA chairman Brian Madderson said: “To help freight move and help key workers travel safely and independently through this period of crisis, petrol filling stations must remain open, but this is proving to be a challenge for many filling stations.”
The PRA warns that the difficulties in trading are likely to be most sharply felt at independent rural filling stations. These are often local community hubs, providing essential food items and other provisions to people who live in remote areas.
Madderson told Auto Express that while some retailers are closing “in the short term”, it is unknown whether more severely affected businesses will be able to reopen once the lockdown has passed. The PRA advises concerned drivers who use smaller and more isolated filling stations to call them in advance to confirm they are open before heading out to fill up. Madderson added that supermarket and oil-company petrol stations would certainly remain open, preventing broader supply issues.
Further difficulties for petrol stations are posed by the fact that a significant number of staff are self-isolating after showing symptoms of coronavirus themselves, or having family members who are.
Survey data from the Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy shows 60 per cent of forecourts have underground tanks that are completely full. The PRA also highlights many retailers would have bought that fuel before the price of a barrel of oil plummeted to a record low $20 (£16) – potentially leaving them further out of pocket.
The PRA said smaller fuel retailers struggled during the best of times against the “unrelenting” competition from supermarket stations, and called for fuel wholesalers to extend to independent filling stations the same 60-day lines of credit that are enjoyed by supermarkets.
Madderson warned that despite falling oil prices, drivers shouldn’t immediately expect to see a dramatic fall in the price of fuel, because retailers “are having to maintain pump prices at previous levels to avoid suffering significant stock losses”.
“When the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and high sales volumes return,” he added, “we expect to see cuts in retail fuel prices.”
“To help freight move and help key workers travel safely and independently through this period of crisis, petrol stations must remain open, but this is proving to be a challenge for many filling stations.”
Brian Madderson PRA chairman