- Title: NETHERLANDS: PETROL FLOWS FREER THAN EVER DESPITE ARAB OIL BOYCOTT.
- Date: 1st January 1974
- Summary: 1. GVs Tankers off Hook of Holland 0.16 2. GV Tracking shot Refinery near Rotterdam (2 shots) 0.24 3. GVs and CUs Cars filling up at petrol station (6 shots). 0.51 Initials AE/21.36 AE/21.44 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 16th January 1974 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Reuters ID: LVA1H84IZHPJXWA75ICTFISW7ITY
- Story Text: There was no sign in The Netherlands on New Year's Eve (December 31st) that the country has received no Arab oil since October and that emergency measures are about to be imposed to conserve fuel stocks. Petrol flowed freely from the refineries and the filing stations.
Supertankers came into Rotterdam - Europe's major port for oil distribution - in a steady stream. A port official explained that The Netherlands was getting increased supplies from its non-Arab suppliers - Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela. He denied rumours that the big oil companies were sending Arab oil by secretly transferring it to different tankers at sea.
Oil tanks were described as 'bursting at the seams'. The refineries poured the overflow into the filling stations where motorists eagerly filled their tanks. Petrol rationing comes into force on January 7th to conserve stocks, and car owners have been laying in reserves. Police have been struggling to enforce the 25 litre limit for home stocks, especially since the Dutch traditionally let off millions of fireworks on New Year's Eve.
SYNOPSIS: Oil has been flowing into the Dutch port of Rotterdam, although Arab oil-producing nations imposed a total ban on exports, to the Netherlands in October. Supertankers from Iran, Venezuela and Nigeria gave more than made up the deficiency.
The refineries near Rotterdam have been described as 'bursting at the seams'.
The surplus oil has been poured into the filling stations and motorists on Monday were rushing to buy it. They face petrol rationing from January the seventh and a steep price rise. The police have been struggling to prevent hoarding petrol at home, especially since the Dutch traditionally let off millions of fireworks on the thirty-first of December - New Year's Eve -- resulting in a high fire risk.
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