{"id":556086,"date":"2026-03-22T02:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/556086\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T02:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T02:09:18","slug":"middle-east-war-live-updates-anthony-albanese-pushes-back-at-trumps-claim-and-truck-drivers-urged-to-lock-tanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/556086\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East War live updates: Anthony Albanese pushes back at Trump\u2019s claim and truck drivers urged to lock tanks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Six fuel tankers bound for Australia have been cancelled or deferred, as the fallout from the Middle East conflict disrupts global supply chains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the changes affected a small portion of shipments, with about 81 ships expected between mid-April and mid-May.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cSome of those have already been replaced by the importers and refiners with other sources,\u201d Bowen told \u200b<a class=\"css-1lg16vp-StyledTextLink ezegcyi0\" data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2026-03-22\/six-fuel-ships-cancelled-oil-supply-iran\/106483424\">ABC Insiders<\/a>\u200b.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cThat gives us some context of what we are dealing with, that\u2019s not to say it isn\u2019t a very challenged environment internationally, and of course the flow of oil to Asian refineries has slowed, and that has downward impacts on us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Bowen said Australians should expect \u201cbumps\u201d in supply rather than a sudden stop, with shipments continuing to arrive and companies working to secure alternatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cWe still have two refineries working full pelt \u2026 and we also have the boats continuing to arrive, and the refiners and importers working very closely with government to replace those six being cancelled or deferred,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Bowen also stressed Australia remains \u201ca long way\u201d from any need for fuel rationing, despite contingency plans being in place if the conflict drags on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cThere\u2019s a process in place, I have had a meeting with state and territory governments, who have strong powers \u2026 we are not contemplating at this point needing to use any of those powers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4b09f1d37e097d4d05255d2ec33e05f1594a2d66.png\" alt=\"Despite reassurances from the government, disruptions to fuel supply are already being felt, with prices rising and some stations running dry.\" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Despite reassurances from the government, disruptions to fuel supply are already being felt, with prices rising and some stations running dry. Credit: Sunrise<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Bowen said further disruptions to shipments remain possible, while stressing recent shortages in some areas have been driven by a surge in demand rather than a collapse in supply.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Australia still holds 38 days of fuel in reserve, with ongoing deliveries continuing to replenish stocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six fuel tankers bound for Australia have been cancelled or deferred, as the fallout from the Middle East&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[255657,43,5575,6897,12241,44,41,39,42,40,255658,1346],"class_list":["post-556086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-conflict-and-war","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states-usa","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556086","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=556086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}