Went to my three nearest Shell Stations yesterday (around Nottingham) and all had run out of Optimax. First time I've know this. Had to break a long-standing tradition and put Ultimate in it. Has anyone else noticed any shortage? Could it have anything to do with Hemel Hemstead blowing-up the other week? Ultimate seems quite alright though...

 

Yep, its the same for me. I live in Bingham, no Optimax anywhere!! Its the Hemel thing apparently.

I am now filling up with Sainsbury's SUL 97 RON - 87.9p per litre. Its quite good actually and 10p or so cheaper than Ultimate.

 

Yeah, Shell lost a fair bit in the fire apparently.

Reading's out, went for Ultimate as well.

 

One of my 2 local shells seems to have covered over it's Opti pumps, but this started before Buncefield. Other one has Opti on each pump as normal - don't understand, other than that the no-Opti station is closer to Nedsville, where perhaps 95 burns down a house just as well as 97, and they just aren't prepared to pay a premium for the high octane stuff.

 

Same here, might try and track down some of that Tesco 99 RON stuff...

 

I filled up with Optimax no problem last night ...

 

shell at st Ives and huntingdon are also out today, went into cambridge last night and they are closed, i just thought it was the time of year as every body panic buys but i guess not.

 

Same in Surrey, had to use Ultimate

 

Saw this posted (22/12) on another site. Looks like the situation might last a few weeks.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding Optimax supplies.
Following the recent incident at the Hemel Hempstead Oil Terminal, Shell is in the process of reorganising the current distribution of fuels for sites in the South of England.
To ensure the mainline grades of unleaded and diesel are kept in stock, the resource used for Optimax deliveries has been unitised to support these deliveries. Our distribution contractors are working to get extra resource to aid with mainline deliveries and allow Optimax to be dispatched to sites again. We anticipate that this will take several weeks to get all deliveries back to normal.
Shell appreciates your reliance on Optimax, and would like to thank you for your patience during this difficult period. Please be assured that we are doing everything to get all fuels to service stations.
Yours sincerely,

Matthew Wagster
Customer Relations - Retail
Shell U.K. Oil Products Limited
Rowlandsway House, Rowlandsway, Manchester M22 5SB, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)800 731 8888

Internet: http://www.shell.com/uk

 

There was no Optimax at my usual haunt yesterday in Leicester.... in the end I put 'normal' unleaded in

This is the first time I have ever put something other than Optimax in the car in 2 years of S2000 ownership