Australia will begin releasing its stockpile of fuel after the government directed fuel companies to release nearly a fifth of reserve petrol and diesel supplies.<\/p>\n
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, acknowledged fuel supplies could face further pressure but ruled out a cut to the fuel excise or rationing fuel purchases.<\/p>\n
Bowen said he had cut fuel companies\u2019 minimum stock obligations to about 700m litres of petrol and 2.2bn litres of diesel respectively, freeing up about 300m and 500m respectively to be directed towards regional Australia.<\/p>\n
Australia held about 36 days of petrol and 32 days of diesel in reserve on 3 March. Each importer and refinery will now be able to release about five days\u2019 worth of petrol and six days of diesel stockholding.<\/p>\n
The fuel would not be released immediately and Bowen said he could not be sure when it would reach regional Australia, where some places no longer have access to fuel, \u201cbecause it\u2019s a big country and every town is different\u201d.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s release will count towards the world\u2019s largest-ever coordinated release of oil reserves<\/a>, ordered by the International Energy Agency on Wednesday.<\/p>\n How many days of fuel does Australia have?<\/a><\/p>\n Bowen said petrol usage and imports had not changed since the US began its war on Iran but demand for petrol and diesel had doubled across Australia.<\/p>\n Petrol prices rose nearly 50 cents per litre across Australia\u2019s five largest cities from 20 February to 11 March, now averaging close to 220 cents, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has found.<\/p>\n Perth saw the largest petrol price hike, now paying nearly 60 cents per litre more, while Sydney saw the biggest diesel price jump, up nearly 68 cents.<\/p>\n Releasing nearly a week\u2019s worth of reserves could allay shortage fears and ease panic-buying, according to Tony Wood, a senior fellow at the Grattan Institute\u2019s energy and climate change program.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re not actually using any more, it\u2019s not as though we\u2019re going to use all that up \u2026 [so] a week extra on top of what we\u2019ve already got I think is more significant.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision was the \u201clogical next step\u201d but Australian supply could still be disrupted, Wood warned.<\/p>\n China on Thursday reportedly banned exports of refined fuel, to ensure Chinese households and industry would not face a shortage as conflict in the Middle East limits the world\u2019s oil supply. China accounts for nearly a fifth of Australia\u2019s jet fuel imports.<\/p>\n Bowen acknowledged a prolonged US war on Iran could put more pressure on fuel suppliers but said Australia was \u201cnowhere near\u201d running out of petrol.<\/p>\n \u201cWill there be further threats to fuel suppliers if the international circumstance continues to worsen? Of course,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The federal government on Thursday announced<\/a> it would allow lower-quality petrol with more sulfur to be used on Australian roads but did not change the standards for diesel.<\/p>\n