{"id":351259,"date":"2026-03-27T21:59:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T21:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/351259\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T21:59:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T21:59:21","slug":"asda-warns-of-temporary-shortages-at-some-petrol-pumps-amid-iran-war-petrol-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/351259\/","title":{"rendered":"Asda warns of \u2018temporary shortages\u2019 at some petrol pumps amid Iran war | Petrol prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

The boss of Asda has warned of \u201ctemporary shortages\u2019\u201d at petrol pumps as supplies are squeezed by the conflict in the Middle East<\/a>, which has driven up average UK petrol prices to above 150p a litre.<\/p>\n

Allan Leighton, the executive chair of the supermarket chain, which is the UK\u2019s second largest fuel retailer, said it had been experiencing high demand from drivers as fuel prices have jumped about over the past four weeks since the war started.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fuel volumes are up quite significantly and clearly demand has been outstripping supply. Supply is tight and we are all trying hard on that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leighton stressed that the temporary shortages had only affected \u201cthe odd pump\u201d at a small number of Asda\u2019s petrol forecourts if customers arrived when the retailer was waiting for a fuel delivery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can expect to see that continue,\u201d he said. \u201cThe spikiness at the moment makes this tricky for us, as spikes can lead to temporary shortages. These are temporary and are addressed very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petrol and diesel prices have climbed significantly since the US and Israel began their campaign<\/a> against Iran on 28 February. Retaliatory Iranian strikes and Tehran\u2019s effective closure of the strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a key shipping channel, have prevented some production and transport of oil.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the average price of petrol in the UK rose above 150p a litre<\/a> for the first time since May 2024, reaching 150.11p, according to the RAC.<\/p>\n

The increase in diesel prices outstripped that of petrol, the average reaching 177.68p a litre, the RAC said.<\/p>\n

Before the Iran war started, petrol cost 132.83p a litre on average, while diesel was 142.38p.<\/p>\n

This month, Keir Starmer said the government would \u201cstep in\u201d<\/a> if fuel companies tried to take advantage of the situation and \u201crip off customers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Allan Leighton rejected claims that fuel retailers might be \u2018profiteering\u2019 from the crisis by raising their prices. Photograph: Asda<\/p>\n

Leighton rejected claims that fuel retailers might be \u201cprofiteering\u201d from the crisis by raising their prices, adding that Asda\u2019s profit margin was coming under pressure from higher fuel costs. \u201cPeople ask where the money is going and the government are getting a lot of money off the back of this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fuels Industry UK, which represents the sector, said the supply of petrol and diesel in the UK was \u201cstable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies are monitoring the fuel supply situation closely and reporting regularly into the energy department on the status now and for the weeks ahead,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cSupply remains stable in the UK and our members are working hard to ensure that remains the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) declined to comment but is understood to be confident that the UK has a diverse and resilient fuel supply.<\/p>\n

The global price of oil moved higher again on Friday, climbing 3.5% to almost $112 a barrel as Donald Trump\u2019s pledge to hold off from striking Iranian energy infrastructure for a further 10 days failed to calm the markets.<\/p>\n

The increase in oil prices is likely to keep the cost of petrol and diesel at the pumps higher in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

That is something motorists taking a trip by car this Easter will feel, according to Simon Williams, the RAC\u2019s head of policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the long-awaited four-day Easter weekend almost within touching distance, the cost of getting away by car is going to be noticeably higher this year,\u201d he said. \u201cDrivers on long journeys will need to plan very carefully where they refuel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queues at some petrol stations<\/a> in the UK were last seen in September 2021, after a nationwide shortage of HGV drivers left some forecourts without supplies. Motorists waited in line to fill up at some petrol stations in London and Kent as supply interruptions caused outages at some sites, despite there being no shortage of fuel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boss of Asda has warned of \u201ctemporary shortages\u2019\u201d at petrol pumps as supplies are squeezed by the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-351259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}