Some counterfeiting simply steals revenue from legitimate brands. Some counterfeiting puts customers in danger. Gasoline, oil, diesel and any other liquid that can be classified as fuel falls into the latter category. Counterfeit fuel can contain harmful materials that will at best not perform as expected and at worst will cause severe damage that can lead to serious accidents. Fuel counterfeiting and smuggling is more of a threat now than ever.

It has been proven that price increases lead to increases in counterfeit activity. We can expect a big surge in fuel counterfeiting if oil prices continue on their current upward trend. Fuel counterfeiting and smuggling is most prominent in Europe where fuel prices have always been high due to high taxes. Now global prices are starting to reach previous European levels and European prices are getting even higher.

The world is changing before our eyes. These changes are straining the world's fuel resources and raising the price of fuel.

The standard of living is rising on the continent of Asia, especially in China. The rising standard of living means more demand for motor vehicles which translates into an increased demand for fuel. Since the demand for fuel is not decreasing anywhere else in the world, the average price of fuel is rising. 

   
Increasing unrest in the Middle East where 50% of the world's oil is located makes the fuel market very unpredictable and therefore pushes the price up in anticipation of the limited resources to come. There is a chance that many of the fuel reserves the world currently counts on will not be available to the West in the near future.

Finally there is the situation in Japan where several nuclear power plants are currently out of service and it is unclear if they will ever be functional again. We can also expect many debates in the coming months about the safety of nuclear energy and a halt on any nuclear plants that are currently being constructed or expanded.  The energy that was previously provided by these plants will have to come from somewhere. That puts an additional strain another strain on our oil reserves and raises the prices even further.

Fuel counterfeiting is more profitable now than ever. Higher prices everywhere mean greater profit margins and a more attractive global market for counterfeiters.  It is important to act now and not wait until there is a fuel security problem.

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