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The UK’s energy minister has urged motorists not to drive slower nor buy fuel differently because of the Iran oil crisis, insisting there was no need to change their behaviour.
Michael Shanks was asked by Times Radio if drivers should change their habits as a result of the oil restrictions caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
“They should do everything as absolutely normal because there is no shortage of fuel anywhere in the country at the moment. We monitor this every single day, I look at the numbers personally. There’s no issue at all with that.”
“People should go about their business as normal. That’s what the RAC and the AA have said. It’s really important people do that.
“There’s no shortage of fuel and everything is working as normal.”
“According to President Donald Trump, preliminary truce talks have begun with Iran. According to Iran, he’s living in la-la-land and the talks never happened. But the markets love hope, and the prospect of a ceasefire was enough to push Brent crude oil down 11% yesterday to below $100 a barrel for the first time in weeks. But the Iran denial, and a report that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are considering entering the war, has sent oil back up to $103.
It’s foreign-policy-by-soundbite, but it is President Trump’s speciality. Announcing plans to extend the previous 48-hour deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz, or else, by five days, he sent a clear signal to the market that the US is ready to make a deal. Just a couple of days earlier, Trump had outlined plans to target Iran’s power plants, and Iran in turn had threatened energy and water infrastructure across the Middle East.
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