Fuel crisis Australia: Anthony Albanese hits the phones to shore up supply as petrol fears, WFH calls grow

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been phoning his global counterparts to try and shore up Australia’s fuel stocks over the coming weeks and months, as the Middle East war sends shockwaves through global supply chains.

The Government will bring together business leaders for a food security summit on Monday, as logistics companies warn petrol and diesel price hikes are putting their operations under increasing pressure.

Australia is heavily reliant on fuel imports, bringing much of it in from South Korea and Singapore, which in turn rely on oil from the Middle East.

Anthony Albanese was working the phones to ensure Australia’s imports were not forgotten in the global rush for oil, Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said.

“The prime minister’s negotiating with our Asian neighbours and counterparts to try and maximise the amount of fuel that is available in Australia,” he told Sky News on Monday morning.

Mr Thistlethwaite suggested Australia could leverage its natural gas exports to incentivise countries such as South Korea to continue sending fuel.

The International Energy Agency has suggested encouraging people to work from home in a bid to reduce demand for petrol, a move the government described as “sensible” on Sunday.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen also revealed six tankers bound for Australia had their journeys cancelled or postponed because of the war in the Middle East.

Fuel companies had increased their imports from the United States in response, Labor Minister Mark Butler said on Monday.

“We’re seeing, as I understand it, an increase in shipments from the US that we haven’t seen for many, many years,” he told Nine’s Today program.

“I think the companies, but also the Government, (are) working very hard to make sure that we can get supplies from wherever possible,” he said

Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume said stronger supply chains were the solution to the fuel crisis.

“The way to deal with the crisis we’re facing now is to address those distribution channels and to make sure that we have the supply chains in place to deliver fuel where it’s needed,” she told ABC TV.

“Without that, the economy simply runs to a stop.”

Calls for Australians to work from home to slow fuel use are growing, something the Albanese Government is yet to recommend.

Fuel prices today

The average price for E10 on Monday morning was 237.2, according to Fuel Check.

In Melbourne, according to Petrol Spy, the average for unleaded was 242.8. The same site has the average in Adelaide at 249.9 and in Brisbane at 243.6.

Fuel Watch in Western Australia had Carltex Bayswater unleaded listed at 259.9.