FuelClub Discount

Protests against spiralling fuel costs have spread to several parts of Europe as fishermen, truckers and farmers marched on government offices, blocked ports and oil depots and even handed out free fish to attract public sympathy for their plight.

Demonstrations that began two weeks ago in France and closed a London highway last week spread to Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium and Ireland, and continued over the weekend. Nationwide strikes brought the Spanish and Portuguese commercial fishing industries to a virtual standstill.

Thousands of demonstrators, some carrying banners and some using fishing boats to blockade ports, protested bitterly against fuel prices that have more than tripled in the past five years, and have risen 30 to 50 per cent to record levels in recent months. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, said last week that the European Union should cut some fuel taxes. On Friday he and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, visited a Paris supermarket and mingled with shoppers. Mr Sarkozy was taken aback by the prices he encountered. “Everything is really too expensive,” he said to a florist.
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Opposition leaders said ministers had been “caught napping” by the strike at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, adding that the dispute had serious national consequences.

The industry body warned that the closure of the BP Forties pipeline – which supplies one third of the UK’s oil and gas – would cost ?50?million a day and urged ministers to stop the country being “held to ransom”.

The dispute is between workers and the plant’s owner, Ineos, over the decision to close a final salary pension scheme to new workers.

It appeared no closer to being resolved yesterday and the Unite union, which represents about 800 of the striking workers, said that while there are no firm plans, “there will be the possibility of further strikes”.
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What does the Grangemouth oil refinery do?

The plant, on the Firth of Forth, separates crude North Sea oil into usable commodities like petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and heating oil. The attached petro-chemical plant produces plastics like polypropylene and polyethylene, used by many industries.

How important is it?

Grangemouth is Scotland’s only major refinery and its main fuel supplier. Most Scottish filling stations and many in northern England depend on it, as do Scotland’s airports. It accounts for 10 to 15 per cent of Britain’s refining capacity, processing about 210,000 barrels of North Sea crude oil a day. It produces nine million litres of fuel a day - enough to fill the tanks of about 200,000 small cars.

What impact will the 48-hour shutdown have on petrol and diesel supplies?

Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, has said he “cannot guarantee” that stations will not temporarily run out. However, there should be no problem with shortages as long as motorists do not start to panic buy. Analysts have warned prices could rise to ?1.50 per litre.
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