A little over half a tank of diesel set me back more than £60

During the week, as Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric over Iran, I thought it rather prudent to fill my car up with fuel. Given the battle as to who could more effectively block the Strait of Hormuz, I thought it better safe than sorry. Especially as I have a funeral to attend next week for which my car is essential. Our columnist managed to find the peak price point to fill up his tank As it’s a diesel (when I got it, they were being hailed as the best choice for the environment, believe it or not), the cost for a little over half a tank was north of £60. Not so long ago, that would normally get close to filling it up. This will, of course, come as no surprise to anyone – we’ve all experienced the soaring costs . Naturally, by the time this weekend rolled around, the prices were starting to drop . Typical. I clearly timed my run at its very peak of the price mountain. It’s all relative, though, as prices are still gear-grindingly high. But, at least, we hadn’t hit the panic buying of a few years ago. Back in 2021, courtesy of a shortage of delivery drivers (thanks, Brexit!), getting fuel required you to make something of a day of it. As the supply chain faltered and fueled fears of not being able to get more fuel, it sparked a run on the pumps. The panic buying of 2021 was, fortunately, not repeated this time around Yet it was a problem, back then, exacerbated in the South East, it seems. Because, needing to take my son back to university in sunny Wales, I had to get up at the crack of dawn and join a queue at a Kent supermarket which wrapped, several times, around its enormous car park. I’d never seen anything like it, before or since. But getting there early was the only way to guarantee some fuel would be left. My poor old car was pretty much running on fumes by the time I got there. I was pleased I had, because as I moved along the M25, there were signs at all the service stations saying that if you wanted fuel, you could, as they say, ‘go whistle’. I crossed my fingers that by the time I reached my destination, it wouldn’t be quite so challenging when it came to filling up for my return. It wasn’t. In fact, in Wales, there were no queues at all. Anywhere. It was like the fuel crisis never happened up there. Yet it so nearly happened again. Want someone to blame for the fuel price hike? Then look no further... Trawling some local Facebook sites a week or so back and there were plenty of people saying that diesel had sold out at major retailers. They were right. As I drove past a supermarket forecourt, all the diesel pumps were closed. A rare sight in recent years. But, of course, it meant everyone else was getting panicked and, if they saw a working diesel pump, took advantage. Even, ironically, if they had to drive miles to get there. The good news is that there was no shortage of supplies this time around. Probably, of course, as forecourt tanks are probably still brimming with oil bought wholesale before the recent crisis began. Far be it from me to suggest oil companies like to coin it in at such periods of crisis, but I suspect we’ll not see those prices at the pumps drop as fast as they rocketed upwards. Thanks, Donald.