UK official: ‘It will take a number of weeks’ for fuel supply to return to normal

A U.K. official on Friday said “it will take a number of weeks” for fuel supply to return to normal after a shortage that began last month has taken a toll on the country. 

“It will take a number of weeks to get it back to more normal running levels” of fuel supply and fewer lines at gas stations, Gordon Balmer, executive director of the U.K. Petrol Retailers Association, told Bloomberg Radio. 

The shortage of fuel supply in the U.K. started when oil company BP said they would have to close some gas stations due to lack of fuel. 

The lack of fuel stemmed from a shortage in truck drivers and Brexit, the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union, with the government implementing emergency measures such as soldiers driving the tanker fleet to help deliver fuel.

A government source told CNN 150 military tankers will be used to help get supplies to gas stations. The government has also issued temporary work visas to foreign truck drivers to help aid with delivery. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged people to get fuel as they normally would and not fill up in a panic over the shortage, saying it is exacerbating the issue. 

“Consumer behavior, allied with a perception of a shortage of fuel, is driving different levels of demand,” Crime and Policing Minister Kit Malthouse told Sky News. 

“If we can return to a normal pattern of consumption we can return to a normal pattern of supply,” Malthouse added.

“The vast majority of sites in London still have no fuel,”  Steve McNamara, general secretary of the London Taxi Drivers’ Association, said, according to Bloomberg.

The lines are getting longer for fuel with many taxi drivers saying they can not work, McNamara said.