News
New fuel labelling
S
eptember 2019 will see the roll out of new EU-wide fuel labels at all fi lling stations, with
the labels designed to help inform drivers about the the biofuel content of both petrol and
diesel.
“These new labels will help drivers chose the right fuel for their vehicle, whilst also highlighting
the use of biofuels in reducing the CO2 emissions from everyday road vehicles,” said a Department
for Transport (DfT) spokesperson.
“Our Road to Zero strategy sets out our ambition to end the sale of diesel and petrol cars by
2040, while the ongoing decarbonisation of traditional fuels will help during this transition.”
Containing up to 5% renewable ethanol, petrol will be labelled E5, with diesel (7% biodiesel)
labelled B7.
Last year, the carbon dioxide (CO2) savings from using biofuels in road transport were
equivalent to taking over a million cars off the UK’s roads.
The labels, which will appear on forecourt pumps and on the fi ller caps of all new vehicles, will
become increasingly important as new fuels come onto the market.
In 2018 the DfT issued a call for evidence on whether and, how best to introduce E10, a
petrol with up to 10% renewable ethanol; response is expected later this year.
The labels will also be accompanied by a wider public information campaign later in the year.
Road Fuel Labelling
Government response
Moving Britain Ahead
February 2019
Label illustrations can be found in the August 2018 issue of Fuel Oil News.
Continuing the fi ght aga inst
forecourt crime
D
uring the fi nal
quarter of 2018,
the latest results for
the BOSS Forecourt Crime
Index have revealed that
incidents of forecourt crime
recorded by fell by 4%.
A combination of
factors affected Q4 –
incidents per site fell by
4%; the average fuel price
fell by 0.3% to 131.1 ppl
(131.5ppl: Q3 2018); the
average litres taken per
incident rose to 39.8 (37.5:
Q3 2018) and as a result
the average initial loss per
incident rose to £52.15
(£49.32 Q3:2018)
The BOSS Forecourt
Crime Index is based on
No Means of Payment
(NMoP) incident reports
that are made to BOSS as
part of its Payment Watch
scheme. During Q4 2018
the BOSS index fell to 153
(160: Q3 2018). The index
was established at 100 in
Q2 2015.
6 Fuel Oil News | April 2019
Forecourt crime is estimated to cost retailers more than
£30 million pounds annually with some two thirds of
crime resulting from drive-offs and the remainder coming
from NMoP incidents. Since BOSS Payment Watch was
introduced more than £5 million of NMoP losses have
been recovered and returned to retailers
“It is positive to see the
average number of incidents
start to fall during the second
half of 2018 as BOSS has
worked hard to tackle forecourt
crime,” said Kevin Eastwood,
BOSS executive director.
“These efforts have seen
the BOSS Payment Watch
initiative help to recover more
than £8 million on behalf of
retailers during the year.
Any loss is unacceptable,
and BOSS will continue to
promote stronger partnerships
between retailers and police
forces. These can reduce
losses for retailers, reduce
demands on police time, and
bring persistent offenders
before the courts. We still need
retailers to remain vigilant and
take responsibility to ensure
that, where incidents do take
place, the correct evidence is
collected and retained.”
BOSS will be holding
one-to-one Forecourt Crime
Reduction Clinics at the
Forecourt Show 2019 which
takes place at the NEC on 8 to
10 April.
The British Oil Security
Syndicate (BOSS) is a not-
for-profi t independent trade
organisation campaigning to
reduce forecourt crime, Formed
in 1991 by the oil industry,
membership is available to
all UK fuel retailers and oil
companies.
Hiking up
fuel duty
L
ast month FairFuelUK and two
Conservative MPs were quick to
respond to Labour’s plans to hike
up fuel duty.
“What is Labour’s front bench
team on? This is declaring war on
drivers,” said Howard Cox of FairFuelUK.
“To suggest raising fuel duty
now, just as the UK economy sharply
contracts because of Brexit, shows that
Labour really are fi nancially illiterate,”
added Quentin Willson.
‘It is hard to believe that Labour,
once the party of the workers, would
launch an all-out assault on hard
pressed motorists and crucify working
people by putting up the cost of living
for ordinary folk.
“A fuel duty rise would hit the NHS
and food prices too because of the
increasing costs of transportation, and
small businesses would be crucifi ed at a
time when we need to keep costs low,”
commented Robert Halfon MP.