“It’s a small world,” is ringing true for the fleet managers who can expect increased operating costs as a result of distant political turmoil. The continuing unrest in the Crimea soon led the RAC to warn of higher fuel prices on their way. “Managers 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 affect prices.”

Steve Clarke advised fleet managers not to panic. “Fuel prices occasionally fall for a while, but the historical trend is always upwards, as it is for everything else. 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. That increase, substantiating Steve Clarke’s comments, was largely due to the US dollar strengthening against the pound. Steve Clarke said, “This might mean pain on the forecourts, but nobody running a fleet should ever be paying anywhere near pump prices, when having the right fuel card would mean a saving of up to 4p per litre.”

Contact The Fuelcard People today to find out how your business could benefit from using fuel cards. Call our friendly team on 0844 870 6942, or ask them to call you back here.