{"id":530592,"date":"2026-03-10T07:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/530592\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T07:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:55:11","slug":"bowen-says-australias-fuel-supplies-secure-despite-diesel-demand-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/530592\/","title":{"rendered":"Bowen says Australia\u2019s fuel supplies secure despite diesel demand surge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

MINISTER for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen has told media today he understands why Australians are concerned about fuel availability, but insists the country\u2019s diesel and petrol supplies \u201cremain at this point secure\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have as much diesel in Australia today as we had before this crisis began, and the stock obligation which the companies are legally required to meet remains at 32 days,\u201d Mr Bowen told a press conference at Parliament House earlier today.<\/p>\n

\u2018A huge spike in demand, not an impact on supply\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing a big increase in demand, particularly for diesel, and I understand why Australians are concerned, but my key message is that every single expected arrival of diesel supply in recent days and expected in coming days and weeks has arrived on schedule as expected, so there is no need for panic buying.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I do have a great deal of concern and empathy for those farmers in particular who, because of the situation with the supply chain in regional Australia are having difficulty getting diesel, but I do need to emphasise this is managing a huge spike in demand, not an impact on supply at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Bowen and fellow ministers Julie Collins and Tim Ayres convened a roundtable earlier today with the National Farmers Federation, oil companies and peak industry groups such as Trucking Australia to discuss the fuel situation.<\/p>\n

The meeting aimed to \u201censure that the flow of communication between those groups is as strong as it could be\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key message is, while there are challenges and uncertainties in all international supply chains at the moment, the preparations that the Government has put in place for the minimum stock obligation are working,\u201d Mr Bowen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s necessary to access those minimum supplies, we will, but we\u2019re not there at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the important thing to know is that there is no need, no need to be concerned at this point about the supply of diesel or petrol of Australia, because our stocks are as high as they were before this crisis began, but we do need to work to ensure that as much as possible is flowing to farmers, because what the refiners are dealing with is a massive increase in demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are meeting their contractual obligations to those who have ordered diesel in advance, but they are having trouble meeting extra orders that are coming on the spot market because they are so high. But we\u2019ll continue to work with them to ensure that as much as possible is being done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government could invoke fuel rationing powers if supply crisis deepens<\/p>\n

Mr Bowen said the Government would not hesitate to use the powers it has under the minimum stockholding obligation<\/a> \u201cif necessary if it helps the situation\u201d.<\/p>\n

But he reiterated: \u201cWe are not there yet\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI note that last night G7 Ministers met and agreed it was not the right time for an international release of oil. And that reflects our understanding of the situation as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

On fertiliser, Mr Bowen said Australia had a five-week stockpile of urea, bringing total available supply held by the private sector to around 12 weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, that\u2019s technical grade urea which supports AdBlue which is so vital for trucking.<\/p>\n

\u201cFertiliser is a separate question and urea for fertiliser is a separate question.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, we are talking to the National Farmers Federation. At this point supplies remain good, but of course we\u2019ll continue to remain agile and work with the industry as necessary through Minister Collins and myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key question now is how long the war continues, and when oil tankers may again be able to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

If the stalemate stretches on for weeks, the Federal Government could potentially move to strict rationing of fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssential Users\u201d defined under emergency act<\/p>\n

Under the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act 1984<\/a>, in the event of \u201can actual or likely fuel shortage\u201d, the Governor-General has the power to declare a national fuel emergency.<\/p>\n

This would give the Energy Minister powers to control:<\/p>\n

Industry-held stocks of crude and liquid fuels
\nProduction by Australian refineries
\nFuel sales across Australia<\/p>\n

The Act also allows some \u201cessential users\u201d to be exempted from rationing during an emergency, including:<\/p>\n

Australian defence services
\nAmbulance services
\nCorrective services
\nFire or rescue services
\nPolice services
\nPublic transport services
\nState emergency services or equivalent organisations
\nTaxi services<\/p>\n

National Farmers Federation welcomes roundtable discussion<\/p>\n

In a statement released this afternoon, the National Farmers\u2019 Federation welcomed the opportunity to take part in the ministerial roundtable convened by Chris Bowen alongside Julie Collins, Tim Ayres and Catherine King.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important farmers had a seat at the table and we will continue working closely with Government to ensure agriculture has reliable access to diesel and other critical inputs,\u201d NFF president Hamish McIntyre said.<\/p>\n

Now was the time for calm, considered and sensible actions during such uncertainty, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarmers rely on fuel to get food and fibre from paddocks to plates and ports every single day. As we move into the winter cropping season, demand for diesel naturally increases as farmers prepare paddocks and plant crops.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already seeing signs of tightening supply and rising costs for key inputs. If farmers can\u2019t access reliable and affordable fuel and fertiliser, some may be forced to scale back plantings. That hits farm incomes, agricultural production and food availability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related article: Livestock transporters calls for leadership and transparency as diesel prices surge<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr McIntyre said the roundtable discussion reinforced the importance of agriculture and the food supply chain being front of mind in decisions about fuel supply and distribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NFF is committed working with our members to ensure timely and accurate information is provided to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis moment also underlines a broader challenge. Australian farmers remain exposed to global shocks because of our reliance on imported fuel and other inputs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe the Government must explore all options to better understand and protect local food and fibre production from vulnerabilities such as global conflict. We expect the forthcoming national food security plan to address exactly that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NFF also strongly supports growing domestic manufacturing capability, including a local biofuels industry. A domestic low-carbon liquid fuels industry would provide economic benefits and diversification opportunities for farm businesses, while also strengthening Australia\u2019s long-term sovereign fuel capability.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image: Shutterstock MINISTER for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen has told media today he understands why Australians…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-530592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}