If there is one thing that smells stronger than petrol, it is fear. In recent days, many motorists have used more fuel getting to petrol stations than they have been able to buy when they got there. With petrol stations unable to replenish supplies, the crisis is real, but the stations themselves warn that consumer panic is actually making the crisis worse. Many financial crises of the past century have been characterised by an irrational panic, which acts as a conductor for fears about the economic future. Panic as predicted What has happened this week is entirely predictable, Leo Drollas at the Centre for Global Energy Studies, said.
People rush out to go and fill their tanks up.
Normally, we run around with a third of our tanks full. The Petrol Retailers Association has said that in theory garages should have enough supplies for three or four days. These however have been run down because of panic buying. It is based on an irrational belief that I have got to survive. It is irrational because it is the person thinking I don't want to be left without this.