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Up to 762 million litres of petrol and diesel will be supplied to regional areas to combat high demand and short supply.
The Federal Government will release "up to" 20 per cent of the nation's petrol and diesel reserves to help boost fuel supply for regional Australia, amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Australia currently has 36 days' worth of petrol and 32 days of diesel stored at facilities across the country, legally required to keep on hand at sites around the country to combat supply disruptions.
The war in the Middle East – and disruption of oil transport through the Strait of Hormuz – has prompted just that, with the Federal Government to release "up to 20 per cent" of its domestic reserves, as announced today by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.
It equates to 762 million litres, said to be split between about 300 million litres of petrol and more than 400 million litres of diesel.
Australian rules require there to be about 2.75 billion litres of diesel and 1.07 billion litres of petrol in reserve, though stocks are currently above the minimums, at 2.97 billion litres of diesel and 1.56 billion litres of petrol.
The release of fuel from the national reserves is aimed at directly addressing the shortages seen in regional Australian centres, after panic buying set in with fears that the escalating conflict in the Middle East would raise fuel prices to higher levels.
However, Bowen assured Australians that local fuel security is safe, and warned against panic buying.
“There is no need to stockpile or hoard fuel – take what you usually need so that no one has to go without,” Bowen said.
“The Government will allow fuel companies to hold less in storage and get more into pumps in our regional areas struggling with fuel shortages.
“These are the stocks of fuel held in Australia, which must be maintained each week by bulk importers and refineries.”
The Australian Government has been combating growing concerns of local fuel shortages, also announcing today a rollback of cleaner petrol for two months to standards phased out late last year, in order to help meet demand.
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
