Irish Examiner view: Sooner the better

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan. The sooner that oil supply is protected in legislation the better.

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has recently stressed the need for laws designed specifically to respond to a potential oil emergency.

This may seem alarmist, particularly as the country’s current reserves are adequate and there is no obvious threat to supplies on the horizon, but the longer the war in Ukraine rages, for instance, the longer uncertainty about fuel supplies lasts in Europe.

When that uncertainty accelerates into fear, the results can be obvious to the naked eye: after the explosion on the Karch Bridge in Ukraine last week, there was panic buying of oil and petrol across Crimea as a result.

Nearer home there was another instance of the fear generated by the prospect of a fuel shortage: In September last year, the British government had to suspend competition laws to allow oil firms to work together to ease shortages — BP reported almost one-third of its British petrol stations had run out of the two main grades of fuel, for instance.

The result was a scene reminiscent of the ’70s oil crisis — long lines of vehicles queuing for hours at petrol stations to fill up.

The cause last year wasn’t a sudden spike in prices by Middle East suppliers, as happened 50 years ago; it was a lack of tanker drivers, according to oil firms, which interrupted the supply chain from refineries to forecourts.

Britain’s experience last year underlines a crucial point. Potential shortages need not be caused by once-in-a-generation cataclysms, but by one of the most humdrum reasons imaginable — a temporary labour shortage.

In that context it is of paramount importance that Ireland secures all its oil supplies: there are many advantages to being an island nation, but those count for little when it comes to accessing a commodity like oil, which has to be imported in large quantities to keep the entire economy operating. The sooner that supply is protected in legislation the better.