Fuel crisis: Service stations run dry as States demand national approach to emergency measures

State leaders are calling on the Federal government to coordinate emergency measures at a national level as the US-Israeli-led conflict in Iran has caused hundreds of service stations across Australia to run out of fuel.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen told Question Time on Monday that unleaded or diesel is not available at more than 200 service stations in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

This included 105 non-diesel service stations, as well as 37 of 2444 petrol-free stations in New South Wales, as NSW Premier Chris Minns confirmed on Monday.

Another 47 service stations in Queensland are diesel-free and 32 of more than 1800 sites are unleaded; In Victoria, 109 stations are missing at least one or more fuel types, 50 of which are non-diesel.

Australia sources 80 percent of its refined fuel from refineries in Asia, which rely on crude oil from the Middle East, and panic buying is already taking place before shipments to Australia for next month are canceled.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan on Monday morning called for a nationally coordinated approach to emergency measures rather than leaving the decision up to the United States.

“In case there is a broader supply issue, there needs to be a national approach here,” he said.

“We’re not there yet. In my view, this is something that needs to be coordinated.”

Mr Minns said the 105 service stations in NSW that no longer had diesel were “almost exclusively in areas”, while 35 did not have access to any fuel.

However, he talked about the possibility of rationing for now.

“I wouldn’t say it’s likely. The public will expect us to come up with a plan based on what’s happening in the Middle East and implement it step by step,” he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

Independent service stations in regional areas are suffering the most as oil companies prioritize fuel distribution to wholesale customers such as large retailers through existing contracts.

“This is really important from a competitive standpoint, especially for regional cities, but they are often buying on the spot market rather than at the contracted price and we are seeing problems with petrol stations in the supply chain accessing fuel,” Mr Minns said.

The NSW Labor Premier has pointed to government intervention to force oil companies to supply fuel to independent service stations that buy from the wholesale market at spot prices.

“We have that power but we are talking to them in the first instance to understand why, if the fuel supply is shown to be available, independent gas stations cannot purchase it from their own internal systems,” he said.

Mr Bowen noted supply constraints in Western Australia, particularly in remote and regional areas, had eased, but did not give specific details.

He rejected an opposition request to reveal how many stations in Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory were without fuel, but said he would take part in a discussion with the Tasmanian government later on Monday.

The confirmation about the fuel supply crisis came a day after Mr Bowen confirmed six ships had been canceled or delayed out of 81 scheduled to arrive in Australia from mid-April to mid-May.

Deputy Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was working on the phones to ensure Australia’s imports were not forgotten in the global oil rush.

“The Prime Minister is negotiating with our Asian neighbors and counterparts to maximize the amount of fuel available in Australia,” he told Sky News on Monday morning.

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has restricted global crude oil supplies.

Australia imports 80 per cent of its unleaded petrol, diesel and jet fuel needs, with 49.2 billion liters shipped last year from refineries in Asia, which supply crude oil mainly from the Middle East.

The biggest source of imported oil is Singapore, and the biggest supplier of diesel is South Korea.

Thailand, which was Australia’s 14th largest source of diesel last year, has now banned exports.

Australia’s two refineries in Brisbane and Geelong last produced 12 billion liters of fuel, while Australia also imported 10.2 billion liters of crude oil and refinery feedstock.

Conflict in the Middle East may disrupt crude oil supplies from Oman, but alternative sources for Australian refineries also come from Malaysia, Brunei, the US, Vietnam and Argentina.