Since the end of February, when the war in Iran began and fuel prices have soared, almost 200,000 pounds worth of fuel has been stolen from British petrol stations every day, the BBC reports.
Forecourt Eye data shows that since the 28th of February, the number of cases where fuel was filled but not paid for has increased by a fifth.
The conflict in the Middle East has hit oil supplies hard, pushing up prices at British petrol stations. Forecourt Eye said the value of stolen fuel was 48% higher than in the five months before the war, and added that petrol station workers were reporting more intimidation, violence and abuse by agitated customers.
Forecourt Eye’s data is based on information from 550 petrol stations, and the company compared the five months before the war began with the five months after February 28. The data was then extrapolated to 8,359 petrol stations. The number of incidents at the petrol stations analysed equates to 2,872 incidents in total, and includes cases of people driving away without trying to pay and cases where people insist they cannot pay for their fuel after filling up. The number of such incidents before the war began was 2,400.
It is estimated that the amount of fuel stolen has increased by 24%,
from around 87,000 litres per day to 108,900 litres per day.
In response to the surge in violations, Forecourt Eye said it would partner with Facewatch, a facial recognition technology company, to give more than 2,000 retailers access to crime-reporting technology from the fall.
Fuel prices peaked in April but fell in June after the US and Iran announced a memorandum of understanding. Since the ceasefire collapsed, fuel prices have risen again. In the last week of July, fuel prices hit their highest level since the start of the Iran war, and their highest since 2022. Forecourt Eye also reported a rise in thefts at that time.
British Finance Minister John Healey promised over the weekend that the government would take action to prevent fuel price manipulation due to the Iran war. He told the Sunday Telegraph that there was no evidence of this yet, but he would be “watching closely” for any suggestion the public were being “taken for a ride at the pump or the till”.
Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer and some of his government ministers have also previously said they would intervene if fuel retailers tried to cheat consumers. The comments led to a row. Fuel retailers denied the allegations of price-fixing, and the Retailers Association criticised the government’s damaging comments.
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