Diesel users in Australia are not enjoying the same relief as unleaded customers, with one in 30 service stations still entirely out of diesel and prices rising again after an initial slump last week.<\/p>\n
But while the energy minister, Chris Bowen<\/a>, urged Australians not to participate in a social media trend where people claim to be filling up their fuel tanks with cooking oil, he said the government was keen to support the development of biofuels like biodiesel from fats and vegetable oils.<\/p>\n The minister said 3.4% of Australia\u2019s service stations, as of Monday, had zero diesel. That number included 142 out of 2,400 sites in New South Wales, 51 out of 1,700 in Victoria, and 38 petrol stations in Queensland.<\/p>\n The number of service stations without at least one type of fuel fell over the week to Monday from more than 800 to fewer than 600, according to Guardian Australia analysis of state government data<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile diesel wholesale prices had plummeted by about 20c a litre on Wednesday alone, but surged about 10c higher over the following five days, Australian Institute of Petroleum data shows, as global fuel costs continued to rise.<\/p>\n Graph of wholesale prices for diesel and petrol<\/a><\/p>\n Petrol prices fell nearly 32c a litre in the capital cities over the week to Monday as retailers applied tax relief from the Albanese government\u2019s slashing of the fuel excise<\/a>, and state governments agreeing to return GST on petrol sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unleaded was selling for about 226c a litre on average in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Hobart, according to MotorMouth. Adelaide\u2019s unleaded prices fell 35.4c to an average 224.1c a litre, significantly more than the 32c fuel tax cuts delivered by state and federal governments.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n After getting through the busy Easter period of travel with no new disruptions to supply, the government said work was ongoing to secure new shipments of fuel \u2013 including through the prime minister Anthony Albanese\u2019s direct engagements with international counterparts<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to see no ships cancelled that have been contracted for Australia, extra orders being delivered, and we now have security of supply through April and now into May,\u201d Bowen said on Monday.<\/p>\n Guardian Australia understands the government is working on securing extra shipments using new powers to underwrite fuel and fertiliser purchases<\/a>.<\/p>\n