Australia has secured another 100 million litres of fuel, but Energy Minister Chris Bowen has warned there is still a “long way to go” in the fuel supply crisis.
Mr Bowen announced on Saturday two more deliveries of diesel and jet fuel had been arranged and would arrive in the coming weeks.
Fifty million litres of diesel will be sent to the Kwinana fuel import terminal in Western Australia to provide a “buffer” for the state, while 50 million litres of jet fuel will be delivered to Port Botany in Sydney.
It brings the total amount of additional fuel announced by the government in the wake of pressures caused by the war in Iran to 800 million litres, 100 million of which have already arrived.
Mr Bowen said the extra supplies were reassuring for the country, but there was still “a lot of concern” among international counterparts and within industry for the weeks and months ahead.
“This is all very encouraging, but (there’s) a long way to go, there’s still real international supply chain pressures,” he said.
“We now have a lot more fuel than we did on (February 28) when the crisis began, and an increasing buffer to get us through coming weeks and months as we wait for this international situation to sort itself out.”
Mr Bowen said he did not envisage that Australia would require fuel rationing, but having the four-stage plan with the states to address fuel supply – which is currently at Stage 2 – was critical for navigating the volatility in supply chains.
“This is a volatile world, and it’s prudent that the government enters into planning for the worst-case scenario, and that governments do that together (with industry),” he said.
It comes as Anthony Albanese this week refused to rule out extending the fuel excise cut amid the global volatility.
The Prime Minister told Sydney’s 2DAYFM breakfast radio show on Thursday: “We’ll make the assessment. It’s really volatile times. We don’t know when this war in the Middle East will end.”
The Albanese government temporarily halved the fuel excise to 26.3 cents per litre from April 1 to June 30, costing the budget $2.9bn.
The move aimed to provide relief to motorists from the impact of energy shocks triggered by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the US and Israel launched attacks on February 28.
Crude oil prices have remained above $US100 per barrel since the start of the war.
