Petrol prices: Shell York counting down the hours until fuel is entirely depleted as farmers are turned away

A small town servo nearly entirely depleted of fuel is counting down the hours before it has no choice but to turn away desperate locals. Shell in York, about 90 minutes east of Perth, displayed handwritten bowser signs on Wednesday alerting drivers to a 50 litre fuel restriction per customer. “It is unknown when we will get another delivery, thank you for understanding,” the sign read. Employee Linda Evans expected all of her unleaded and diesel would be gone soon, and said there is no sign of a top up on the horizon. “We need to have restrictions otherwise we’ll run out in a day or so,” Ms Evans told The West. “Monday was our last delivery and we’re not sure when the next delivery will be.” Restrictions are being placed on supplies leaving the fuel storage plant in Coogee to “be fair to everyone,” she said. Fifty litres, about $100 worth of fuel, is keeping locals afloat for now. “People can still get around,” she said, adding that customers had so far been understanding. But the situation could go from bad to worse when the servo runs out, because supplies at York’s only other supplier, Gull, have already dried up. “I don’t know if they’re restricting but they’re out of fuel at the moment. Hopefully when we run out, they will have some, and vice versa,” Ms Evans said. If no fuel is delivered to either, she’s not sure what will happen. “We already can’t keep up with the farms with the tankers, we have to turn the tankers away,” she said. “But we’ll just play it by ear, everyone’s in the same boat.” The next closest option is in Northam, about 40 minutes away. Elsewhere across the state, restrictions of 20 and 25 litres of fuel per customer have been imposed, as drivers report multiple servos have completely run dry.