Gasoline theft

Gasoline theft is the crime of stealing gasoline. The theft can occur from a variety of sources, including vehicle fuel tanks, filling station pumps, and industrial pipelines. The methods used by thieves range from traditional siphoning and destructive tank puncturing to sophisticated electronic manipulation of fuel pumps.

As a high-value commodity, gasoline is a frequent target for theft, which has a significant economic impact. In Greece, for example, annual losses from fuel theft are estimated to be around 120 million euros. The crime is often correlated with fluctuations in fuel prices and can involve everyone from opportunistic individuals to large-scale organized crime rings. In Great Britain, police recorded a 77% surge in incidents of drivers leaving filling stations without paying for fuel in a single year, highlighting the growing scale of the problem. For commercial vehicle fleets, preventing fuel theft is a major aspect of fleet management, leading to the widespread adoption of telematics and other fuel-management systems to monitor and secure fuel supplies.