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Contingency planning underway for oil strike AFP The government on Tuesday was working to finalise contingency plans to cope with the impact of a four-day strike by oil tanker drivers this weekend, a government spokesman said. The strike by hundreds of employees of two firms contracted by Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell, which accounts for a tenth of all petrol filling stations across Britain, is set to begin at 6:00 am Friday, and conclude at 6:00 am on Tuesday. "It is difficult to gauge what the impact of the strike would be if it went ahead," a spokesman for the Department of Business said. "Shell accounts for about one in 10 filling stations and it is inevitable there would be some stock outs. If the strike were to affect other retailers it would have a more significant impact. "The government is working with the wider fuel industry on what could be done to reduce any disruption to the public and business." Talks are set to be held at the professional reconciliation service ACAS in the coming days aimed at averting the strike, which Business Secretary John Hutton has said is not justified.
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