Hyderabad, April 27 --  Long queues formed outside petrol pumps across Hyderabad on Monday, April 27, with several stations running dry. But according to the Telangana Civil Supplies Department, the state has no actual fuel shortage. So what is going on?

It started with panic, not a supply crisis

The immediate trigger was a wave of rumours circulating about uncertainty in global oil markets, driven largely by fears over the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran. The anxiety centred on Indian oil vessels struck in the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting supplies.

That fear, however, is unverified, but it was enough to send residents scrambling to petrol pumps with cans and containers, rapidly depleting stations that would oth...