![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791799702_912_744a786804b4da42856a965fea442edb1e4c4780.png\")
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October 12, 2026 \u2014 4:33pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The price of petrol in Australia has climbed above $2.40 a litre for the first time in more than six months, as an escalation of the Iran war deepens fears of a global oil shortage.<\/p>\n At service stations across the country, the national average for regular unleaded rose by 3\u00a2 a litre over the past week to nearly $2.41, according to new figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum. While local diesel prices eased by 1\u00a2 a litre to $2.83, they also remain at levels not seen since the early stages of the conflict.<\/p>\n The price pain for local motorists comes amid mounting threats<\/a> to crude oil and refined fuel exports from the energy-rich Persian Gulf. A recent surge in attacks on oil tankers in and around the Strait of Hormuz, alongside renewed conflict<\/a> between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, is stoking concerns in the industry about crucial shipping lanes.<\/p>\n \u201cIran and its proxies in the Middle East have stretched the war front to demonstrate control over the region\u2019s oil production,\u201d said Vivek Dhar, energy and mining commodities analyst at the Commonwealth Bank.<\/p>\n The risk of a broader regional fallout intensified over the weekend following deadly attacks on Riyadh\u2019s main airport<\/a>, sending global crude benchmark Brent oil surging as high as $US105 ($150) a barrel.<\/p>\n Worries about the volatile situation in the Middle East are threatening to override hopes that a deal<\/a> between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to partially ease the US ban on Russian diesel could help relieve tightening supplies and lower prices ahead of the US midterm elections.<\/p>\n Combined diesel exports from the Middle East and Russia, which previously accounted for 45 per cent of seaborne diesel supply, have \u201creduced meaningfully\u201d since the Iran war began at the end of February, analysts said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf these exports do eventuate, it will provide some relief to a market that is facing diesel shortages,\u201d Dhar said. \u201cBut much will likely depend on Ukraine\u2019s ongoing attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n The modest reprieve in Australian diesel prices in the past week follows a recent $US7-a-barrel decline in Singapore Gasoil, the regional benchmark in Asia, which influences local costs.<\/p>\n Peter Khoury, a spokesman for the NRMA, said it was likely that these falls were triggered by the announcement from the Group of 7 countries \u2013 the US, France, Italy, Germany, Britain, Canada and Japan \u2013 to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from their strategic stockpiles last week, which is equivalent to about one day of global demand.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe believe the Gasoil drops are a result of that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we are waiting to see how the Asian markets react to what happened in Riyadh.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen on the weekend said Australia does \u201cnot want or need\u201d to follow the US in sourcing diesel from Russia. Australia and other Western nations have imposed bans on imports of Russian oil and refined fuels to starve the Kremlin of revenue it needs to keep funding the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n While acknowledging that \u201csituation internationally remains difficult\u201d, Bowen said Australia continues to have more than enough fuel, with 43 days\u2019 worth of petrol and 31 days\u2019 worth of diesel still stashed in reserves across the country, and dozens of tankers booked to bring in more fuel over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n The NRMA agreed that Australia\u2019s supply levels remained healthy. \u201cSupply continues to arrive,\u201d Khoury said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to suggest that\u2019s going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/189d53550545f8ca9f42037015c49983d3efa331.jpeg\")
The price of petrol and diesel in Australia has climbed to levels not seen since April as the Iran war shuts down a second oil export route.Paul Rovere <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ce67030c749c24d7e4ba64f3a09869195c00aad4.jpeg\")
The Ampol Banksmeadow oil terminal at Port Botany.Louis Douvis<\/p>\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2503f969ad5275c88e4ade1b89322394cafbe70f96b48163d15d131c2c84c98e.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791799707_394_744a786804b4da42856a965fea442edb1e4c4780.png\")
Nick Toscano<\/a> is a business reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 12, 2026 \u2014 4:33pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-925281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925281","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=925281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}