You CAN (Probably) Store Petrol Legally.

[jennyjj01]

The HSE says that you can store up to 30L of petrol at home, but if you want to store >275L, you need to get a licence from the Petrol Enforcement Agency. There's a fee for that, which I understand to be £80. No doubt other hoops to jump through.

BUT what if you want to store between 31L and 275L? You might think it's illegal. But it isn't. You DON'T need a license!!!!!

I read the HSE site and besides offering container advice, it said

If you wish to store more than 30 litres of petrol and up to a maximum of 275 litres of petrol at your home or premises you need to follow the legal requirements for doing this, which are:

You should notify your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority in writing, giving your name and address as the occupier of the storage place or the address where the petrol is stored. This is not a new requirement but carries forward long standing requirements of the previous legislation.

So. I just enquired of my local PEA as to whether it was that simple and free. It turns out it is. Here's their reply...

"If you decide to store over 30l you would need to notify us in writing , we find a plan and or picture of where the petrol will be stored is useful to show where on the property the store is.


There is no licence or fee to pay for this type of storage."

Now, you MIGHT need to tell your home insurer, though house insurance itself is not mandatory. And you will, of course need to use proper metal containers, such as 20L jerry cans. You may also want to use petrol stabiliser.

But it remains that a simple letter to your PEA is enough. Add a schematic of your storage arrangemnt as a nicety.

Your own PEA MIGHT have different rules.

I guess, there may be issues down the line where your fuel might be 'requisitioned' in a national emergency.

[ForgeCorvus]

I guess, there may be issues down the line where your fuel might be 'requisitioned' in a national emergency.

TPTB will go after low hanging fruit long before they think about seizing maybe a couple of hundred litres stored somewhere on the prepstead....... By that point your car(s) and generator(s) will of eaten it all (honest Officer).

Graceful Degradation in action


Remember the fuel strikes a few years ago, one of our local petrol stations was used for Blue lights only (it was the nearest one to the cop-shop and the ambulance station), of the others two brought in rationing and had attendants do the filling and one used an Open Market system (price gouging) to maintain stocks (guess which one is no longer a petrol station)...... I could see something similar happening in the event of a "Big Bump"

[jennyjj01]

I guess, there may be issues down the line where your fuel might be 'requisitioned' in a national emergency.

TPTB will go after low hanging fruit long before they think about seizing maybe a couple of hundred litres stored somewhere on the prepstead....

Remember the fuel strikes a few years ago,

You remind me of the Oil shock of 1973, where nominal petrol price was 40p a GALLON. There was so little petrol available that one place I drove past was charging £2. They got punished post crisis.

Anyhow. I'm considering storing maybe 5 or 6 x 20L jerry cans of stabilised petrol. It will be a costly venture.

[Yorkshire Andy]

If you do store a sizable amount install some decent fire suppression..

https://www.fireprotectionshop.co.uk/pr ... JAQAvD_BwE




Might just save your bacon if something goes wrong ...
. Of tptb do come out to check on your arrangements you appear responsible

[Arzosah]

The HSE says that you can store up to 30L of petrol at home, but if you want to store >275L, you need to get a licence from the Petrol Enforcement Agency. There's a fee for that, which I understand to be £80. No doubt other hoops to jump through.

BUT what if you want to store between 31L and 275L? You might think it's illegal. But it isn't. You DON'T need a license!!!!!

I read the HSE site and besides offering container advice, it said

If you wish to store more than 30 litres of petrol and up to a maximum of 275 litres of petrol at your home or premises you need to follow the legal requirements for doing this, which are:

You should notify your local Petroleum Enforcement Authority in writing, giving your name and address as the occupier of the storage place or the address where the petrol is stored. This is not a new requirement but carries forward long standing requirements of the previous legislation.

So. I just enquired of my local PEA as to whether it was that simple and free. It turns out it is. Here's their reply...

"If you decide to store over 30l you would need to notify us in writing , we find a plan and or picture of where the petrol will be stored is useful to show where on the property the store is.

There is no licence or fee to pay for this type of storage."

This is a nifty piece of research, Jenny, well done you

[grenfell]

Interesting to hear . if I may can I ask what your reasoning for the storage is ? I tend to store petrol as I use it throughout the gardening season and buy it on the likelihood that it's going to go up in price over the year so really as a hedge against inflation more than anything else. I don't store it as a prep to drive my road warrior muscle car through the hoards...
I've probably , well certainly , stored more than I should have done , without informing the relevant authorities. For example during covid the petrol stations dropped petrol to 99p so I filled up as much as possible...

[Yorkshire Andy]

Interesting to hear . if I may can I ask what your reasoning for the storage is ? I tend to store petrol as I use it throughout the gardening season and buy it on the likelihood that it's going to go up in price over the year so really as a hedge against inflation more than anything else. I don't store it as a prep to drive my road warrior muscle car through the hoards...
I've probably , well certainly , stored more than I should have done , without informing the relevant authorities. For example during covid the petrol stations dropped petrol to 99p so I filled up as much as possible...

Personally the whole storage gaff is to a point a load of garbage.. you could have 5 scrap cars on your drive each with 50 litres in the tank that's 250l in questionably leak proof petrol tanks hanging on potentially rusty tank straps ... with the car filled with potentially knackered wiring and perished fuel lines

Or a stack of 12 approved jerry cans in a shed at the end of the garden away from any source of ignition with fire extinguisher by the door stood on a large tray to contain any leaks ..

Where's the greater risk


Also in my case I store the 30l in metal fuel cans....

But I also keep 20l in my generator another 5 in my rotorvator as these are "in use" its not classed as stored

[jennyjj01]

Interesting to hear . if I may can I ask what your reasoning for the storage is ? I tend to store petrol as I use it throughout the gardening season and buy it on the likelihood that it's going to go up in price over the year so really as a hedge against inflation more than anything else. I don't store it as a prep to drive my road warrior muscle car through the hoards...
I've probably , well certainly , stored more than I should have done , without informing the relevant authorities. For example during covid the petrol stations dropped petrol to 99p so I filled up as much as possible...

I was mostly curious about the rules.

As when I stored 40L of diesel,* it's to be a hedge against inflation and against the sort of hyper inflation 'oil shock' where price may leap short term. To that end, I don't want to spend too much on stabiliser or indeed jerry cans (of which I have two)

I also see it as a valuable barter commodity, should tshtf. I expect post shtf, driving would be pretty much untenable anyway
.
I'll probably limit myself to what I can use in three months of normal usage, so that rotation will keep up with degradation. Say 100 to 160L or 5 to 8 jerry cans

Some petrol gets used in the mower and small generator which I occasionally use at the allotment.

I've yet to think through the safety aspects. Probability of an unplanned fire in my garage, or shed?

I need to research why, and to what extent petrol goes off in a full jerry can. with no water in there, why would it degrade? I understand it degrading in a vented tank .

footnote.... I just asked chat gpt and here's part of the answer...

A full, tightly sealed jerry can slows down the degradation process a lot:

Less air inside means less oxygen and moisture to react with the fuel.
Less headspace also means fewer vapors forming and escaping.
Stored in a cool, dark place, petrol can stay usable for 6 to 12 months, sometimes longer.

Still, even under ideal conditions:
Regular petrol: Starts to degrade after about 3–6 months.
Stabilized fuel (with fuel stabilizer): Can last 1–3 years.

* Diesel storage is not subject to the same restrictions

[grenfell]

Interesting to hear . if I may can I ask what your reasoning for the storage is ? I tend to store petrol as I use it throughout the gardening season and buy it on the likelihood that it's going to go up in price over the year so really as a hedge against inflation more than anything else. I don't store it as a prep to drive my road warrior muscle car through the hoards...
I've probably , well certainly , stored more than I should have done , without informing the relevant authorities. For example during covid the petrol stations dropped petrol to 99p so I filled up as much as possible...

Personally the whole storage gaff is to a point a load of garbage.. you could have 5 scrap cars on your drive each with 50 litres in the tank that's 250l in questionably leak proof petrol tanks hanging on potentially rusty tank straps ... with the car filled with potentially knackered wiring and perished fuel lines

Or a stack of 12 approved jerry cans in a shed at the end of the garden away from any source of ignition with fire extinguisher by the door stood on a large tray to contain any leaks ..

Where's the greater risk


Also in my case I store the 30l in metal fuel cans....

But I also keep 20l in my generator another 5 in my rotorvator as these are "in use" its not classed as stored

I agree to a large extent. To be fair even buying in bulk as a hedge against inflation really only saves a small amount of money. Kept as a prep against some sort of event then it's only going to last a limited amount of time either in a car or generator . Diesel is really a far better option seeing as it's much easier to store.
Interesting as to what chatgpg says about petrol starting to degrade in 3-6 months. Starting to degrade isn't the same as degraded to the extent as to be useless and I've used year old petrol without issues and even if it won't run in an engine it can still be used in something rudimentary like a bengazi cooker.
I'm pretty much the same as you , some stored in cans and some in use even if my inclination is to store more.

[jennyjj01]

I'll probably limit myself to what I can use in three months of normal usage, so that rotation will keep up with degradation. Say 100 to 160L or 5 to 8 jerry cans

Well, as a first bit of rotation, Today I glugged 20L from jerry can to car. Jerry can has a special detachable spout.

IT'S A BLOOMIN' MAUL!

The weight of the jerry can will inevitably break or ruin the spout and I can see a major spillage event.

If I'm to rotate petrol, I need an easier way of using it. Either raising the jerry can and pump/syphoning, or an appropriate powered pump. I don't fancy using an electrical pump for safety reasons. Maybe I'll sit the can on the wheely bin and syphon it with a hand started pump.