The continuing unrest in the Crimea soon led to warnings of higher fuel prices. “Firms should not be surprised when pump prices rise,” said Steve Clarke, marketing manager for The Fuel Card Group, “because oil is such a sensitive, volatile market. We saw price hikes of varying duration following the invasion of Kuwait, when Hurricane Ike hit Texas and after Chavez died in Venezuela. Anything upsetting the status quo in an oil-producing region, even a simple currency fluctuation, will impact prices.”
But Steve advised van users not to panic. “Fuel prices occasionally fall for a while, but the historical trend is always upwards. The only sensible action is to ensure that you are always paying as little as possible for fuel in the first place.”
Following a brief period of lower forecourt prices at the beginning of 2014, they were already rising again before Russian troops were seen on Ukraine streets. Steve added: “Nobody running commercial vehicles should ever be paying anywhere near pump prices, when having the right fuel card would mean a saving of up to 4p per litre.”