BP Says Nearly 33.3% Of Its UK Fuel Stations Running On Empty

British Petroleum (BP) said nearly a third of its British petrol stations had run out of the two main grades of fuel on Sunday as panic buying forced the government to suspend competition laws and allow firms to work together to ease shortages, William James and Elizabeth Piper reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: British Petroleum station

Lines of vehicles formed at petrol stations for a third day running as motorists waited, some for hours, to fill up with fuel after oil firms reported a lack of drivers was causing transport problems from refineries to forecourts. Some operators have had to ration supplies and others to close gas stations.

"With the intense demand seen over the past two days, we estimate that around 30% of sites in this network do not currently have either of the main grades of fuel," BP, which operates 1,200 sites in Britain, said in a statement. "We are working to resupply as rapidly as possible."

The fuel panic comes as Britain faces several crises: an international gas price surge that is forcing energy firms out of business, a related shortage of carbon dioxide that threatens to derail meat production, and a shortage of truck drivers that is playing havoc with retailers and leaving some shelves bare.

Opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer, speaking at his party's annual conference in southern England, said ministers had failed to plan for labor shortages following the 2016 Brexit vote and called for a bigger temporary visa scheme.

Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell said that it had also seen increased demand for fuel. In response, business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said he was suspending competition laws to allow firms to share information and coordinate their response.

"This step will allow government to work constructively with fuel producers, suppliers, haulers, and retailers to ensure that disruption is minimized as far as possible," the business department said in a statement.

Transport minister Grant Shapps had earlier appealed for calm, saying the shortages were purely caused by panic buying, and that the situation would eventually resolve itself because fuel could not be stockpiled.

"There's plenty of fuel, there's no shortage of the fuel within the country," Shapps told Sky News.

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