Russian state media mocked Anthony Albanese’s announcement this week that the government had secured 100 million litres of diesel, saying it would barely last one day.
The Australian Prime Minister revealed at a press conference on Thursday that two shipments from Brunei and South Korea would deliver the scarce goods, totalling about 570,000 barrels.
“This is the first of many expected shipments secured under the government’s new strategic reserve powers, with the support of Export Finance Australia,” he said.
Russia Today, also known as RT, shared a snippet of Mr Albanese’s speech on X in which it appeared to troll the Australian leader as its nation revelled in huge oil profits.
“Daily usage is 92 million liters (sic),” it wrote. “Saving Australia 1 day at a time.”
Australia has been left scrambling to address a shortage in diesel and petrol due to supply shocks caused by the war in Iran, with service stations across the country running out or charging inflated prices.
The situation was further complicated by a blaze on Wednesday at one of Australia’s two oil refineries, in the city of Geelong, although Mr Albanese said it would not change the government’s plans.
“Fuel is continuing to come in,” he said.
Russia, meanwhile, has been one of the few beneficiaries of the US/Israel attack on Iran, which has led to a major disruption in the global oil trade after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively shut.
The European superpower, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, has been making billions in extra revenue as customers seek alternative sources.
US President Donald Trump’s easing of sanctions on Russia to aid the flow of oil, and its skyrocketing price, has meant Vladimir Putin’s government has reaped a massive payday.
“Oil is an extraordinarily important part of the Russian budget,” Rajan Menon, an international relations export at City College of New York, told the ABC this week.
“I think it’s about 40 per cent of all budget revenue.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said waiving of sanctions on Russian oil already on tankers for export, on March 12, was a “short-term measure” to stabilise energy markets.
The waiver expired on April 11 but analysts say Russia had already made billions.
Alexander Kolyandr from the Centre for European Policy Analysis told 7.30 this month that the decision by the US government would be a “windfall” for Putin and Russia.
“The war in Iran is pretty good business for President Putin,” he said.
“Russia is probably the main, if not the only, winner of the war against Iran.”
Mr Kolyander said a basic calculation for oil profits was for every US$10 ($13.96) its price rises, the Russian budget would receive an extra US$1.6 billion ($2.23 billion).
“So then if oil is $40 higher, make your calculation,” he said.
A Reuters report on April 9 forecast revenue from Russia’s biggest oil tax to double to US$9 billion ($12.57 billion) this month.
The average price of Russia’s Urals crude, used for taxation, jumped to US$77 per barrel in March, up 73 per cent on February prices, according to economy ministry data.
Former US Treasury adviser Roxanna Vigil estimated Russia could have received up to US$5 billion in March revenue from the easing of sanctions.
“The waivers have turned Iran and Russia from price-takers into price-setters and left global prices higher than before,” she wrote for the Council on Foreign Affairs this month.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country had offered to help China with any energy shortfalls born of the Iran war.
China is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian oil, with Mr Lavrov saying, “Russia can certainly fill the resource gap that has arisen in China and other countries interested in working with us on an equal and mutually beneficial basis”.
Other nations that pivoted to Russia while the sanction waiver was in place included India, with its refineries reportedly placing orders for about 30 million barrels of Russian oil.
