Fuel Supplies: War in Iran

Lord Carlile of Berriew Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Whitehead (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for his question. His first statistic is correct. His second statistic, not that it is necessarily one that has his support, is categorically untrue—it is categorically untrue that there are only four weeks of fuel supply in the UK. However, the Government are closely monitoring the situation to ensure that supplies remain resilient. The UK remains a net exporter of petrol, with domestic capacity sufficiently filling this demand, while diesel volumes are met mostly by domestic production and imports from trusted partners. Only a small percentage is obtained from the Middle East. The majority of crude oil used for UK production comes from the United States and Norway, with just 1% from the Middle East. The UK obtains a proportion of jet fuel from the Middle East, but the fuel supply industry has been clear that fuel production imports are continuing across the UK as usual.

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as part of a consultancy that provides geopolitics analysis to the Government of Qatar. Does the Minister agree that the continuity of fuel supplies may involve negotiations with those who have de facto control of the Strait of Hormuz rather than with those whom we wish had control of the Strait of Hormuz?

[Lord Whitehead (Lab)]

The issue of fuel supply through the Strait of Hormuz is relative to world supply and world prices; that is, because the UK obtains only a very small proportion of its supplies from the Middle East, the effect is more likely to be on prices across the world as other people seek to make up their supplies from different sources. The noble Lord is right that how we clear the Strait of Hormuz for those supplies has to be a question of disengagement, détente in the present conflict, and negotiation not in an ideal world but with those with whom we find ourselves in a negotiating position.