{"id":564988,"date":"2026-03-26T05:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/564988\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:44:11","slug":"sa-premier-says-regional-areas-will-be-prioritised-for-fuel-deliveries-amid-global-oil-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/564988\/","title":{"rendered":"SA premier says regional areas will be prioritised for fuel deliveries amid global oil crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has assured farmers that regional areas will be prioritised for fuel deliveries.<\/p>\n

Mr Malinauskas maintains demand is still a bigger issue than supply, with 48 million litres of diesel arriving at a port in Adelaide in the past two days.<\/p>\n

Speaking on ABC Adelaide this morning, the premier was asked whether regional areas would be prioritised.<\/p>\n

“Yes, and this is the work that the national Fuel Supply Taskforce<\/a> is doing,” Mr Malinauskas said.<\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

Premier Peter Malinauskas insists Australia’s fuel stocks are strong. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)<\/p>\n

“That is something that we and the federal government are trying to coordinate and we certainly want to participate in the process.<\/p>\n

“The state government is of course limited [in what we can do] in comparison to the federal government.”<\/p>\n

On March 13 the federal government released up to 20 per cent or 762 million litres<\/a> of its petrol and diesel from Australia’s domestic reserves.<\/p>\n

The Commowealth said it was “taking steps” to prioritise supply to regional customers, with a focus on customers experiencing supply shortages.<\/p>\n

Truckers hit hard by shortages<\/p>\n

Robert Cook runs a small trucking business out of Melbourne and said he lost 48 hours on a single trip this week waiting for diesel deliveries.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Robert Cook says he will not be able to continue running his business if diesel costs remain where they are. (Supplied: Robert Cook)<\/p>\n

He travelled from Perth to Melbourne earlier in the week and was left stranded on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n

“I went through Ceduna [on SA’s west coast] to fill up and they had no diesel, completely dry, so we had to sit there for 12 or so hours until the truck arrived,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Then on my way through a town called Emdale, a little tiny town [in the Adelaide Hills region], they had no fuel.<\/p>\n

“I had to sit there for another 14 or 15 hours, so I spent the night.”<\/p>\n

Mr Cook said he thought he was out of the woods before running into another stretch between South Australia and Victoria that was severely lacking diesel.<\/p>\n

“Between Bordertown and Keith there were trucks lined up all waiting, so I kept going and then came to the next service station up the road and they were dry,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Robert Cook runs Helco and says he had to wait for hours before diesel was restocked at multiple service stations. (Supplied: Robert Cook)<\/p>\n

“I thought ‘I’ve got a quarter of a tank, I need to pull over’, so I pulled over and that’s where I stayed the night until I was able to drive into Melbourne yesterday [Wednesday].”<\/p>\n

Mr Cook drives one of his four trucks himself, but if conditions persist he would not be able to continue running his business.<\/p>\n

He said it was a “disappointing” scenario be in, but was grateful his customers had been mostly understanding.<\/p>\n

“I was delivering machinery to a couple of farmers so they’re well aware of what’s going on in the current crisis,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If I run the original prices that I usually quote I’d be running at a loss and it’ll be dipping into my own pocket.”\"Petrol<\/p>\n

Service stations right across the country are running out of fuel as demand soars. (ABC News: Adam Griffiths)<\/p>\n

Can’t leave home to fill up car<\/p>\n

In SA’s Murray Mallee region, John said his local petrol station had not had fuel for three weeks.<\/p>\n

Located on a farm 20 kilometres from Karoonda and 50 kilometres from Lameroo, John told ABC Adelaide he was effectively stranded.<\/p>\n

“I’ve only got 20 litres of fuel left in my tank \u2014 I can’t risk going anywhere,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I only go shopping once a month \u2026 but I’m not going shopping next month because it’s just too risky.<\/p>\n

“I’ll just have to start eating rabbits again because it’s dire out here.”\"A<\/p>\n

John says Karoonda has struggled to keep with demand for fuel. (ABC Riverland: Anita Ward)<\/p>\n

The premier said he understood rural areas were some of those most affected by pumps running dry and the rising costs of fuel.<\/p>\n

“I don’t diminish \u2014 particularly people in the agricultural sector \u2014 farmers, who’ve got all these long overdue rains, they just want to be able to seed and no-one wants to be caught short [on fuel],” he said.<\/p>\n

The federal government said it was not actively considering fuel rationing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The premier said he was on the same page as the Commonwealth, but acknowledged there were plans in place for the worst case scenario.<\/p>\n

“We have an existing act in South Australia [to ration fuel], it’s been called upon in the past. But as it stands there’s no intention to apply that,” Mr Malinauskas said.<\/p>\n

“We should take a nationally coordinated approach, that’s my view, and a view that’s shared by my colleagues of premiers around the country.”<\/p>\n

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