The federal minister for Climate Change and Energy says supply of fuel into Australia remains strong and that domestic shortages are being largely driven by panic buying.
“We updated our figures yesterday as we do weekly now and actually supply of petrol has gone up a little bit – 38 days worth of supply,” Chris Bowen told ABC Insiders yesterday (March 22, 2026).
“Diesel and jet fuel [are] both at 30 days, which is pretty flat and that indicates that while we’ve released more from the strategic reserve, the ships continue to arrive in good numbers, and both our refineries are working absolutely full pelt, and they’re both entirely 100 per cent dedicated to Australian suppliers, not exports.
“So we are really seeing the same if not slightly more level of petrol and diesel in Australia than we did just before this crisis began.
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“We get on average around 81 boats a month delivering fuel to Australia. We’re aware of six boats that have been cancelled out of that 81 on average. And some of those have already been replaced by the importers and refiners with other sources.”
Mr Bowen said those six cancelled ships were primarily coming from different refineries across South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, and that refiners and importers are working with the government to replace these shipments.
He cautioned, however, that it’s possible there may be further ship cancellations in the coming weeks.
“We’re in an uncertain environment so that’s why we’re doing, have done and are doing all the preparatory work as I indicated during the week,” he said.
“But nevertheless, I do think that sort of six out of 80 does give us at this point some of the context of what we’re dealing with.
“It’s not without challenges but also I don’t want people to think – I can understand, you know, in the debate people think all the ships are coming now and in one day they’ll all stop in one go. That is highly unlikely to be the case.
“It’s much more likely that there’ll be bumps in supply, but that governments will work with the refiners and the importers to manage those and minimise impact.
He said oil arriving in Australia comes primarily from Malaysia, with some from Mexico and the US. However, Mr Bowen said he understands there may have been a blending of Russian oil in various points of the supply chain, though Australia continues to refuse to import oil directly from Russia.
Fuel prices have spiked in Australia and there have been reports of some service stations already running out of fuel.
“I think you should always expect Australians to be concerned when they see oil ships being bombed on their televisions at night, so yes, this was understandable and expected,” Mr Bowen said of the spike in demand.
“The regional areas are where the supply chain is the hardest to manage. It takes longer to get from Geelong and Brisbane to the various regional areas.
“You’ve also got lots of rural suppliers and service stations working on very tight margins and not always able to access fuel that’s available. You’ve also got the spot market working there.
“So what the refineries have had to do is understandably, under the law, prioritise those for whom they have contractual obligations. The spot market hasn’t really been operating and all that’s had its biggest impact on rural and regional Australia.”
Panic buying has become a problem, with prime minister Anthony Albanese last week calling on Australians to be good neighbours and only take what they need following a doubling of demand in some locations.
In response to recommendations from the International Energy Agency for people to work from home and drive their vehicles less, Mr Bowen said: “Well, I think that’s a sensible thing to do in any environment, really. Work from home has become an important part of Australian working life.
“I think some people would already be doing that. There are other people for whom it’s not an option. And I think people would already be looking at their options to minimise their fuel use at the moment – for other people that’s a lot harder.
“So I don’t think a one-size-fits-all approach is necessary and that IEA report is really, if you like, a smorgasbord of options for all countries around the world to look at in terms of their own personal circumstances.”
In his role, Mr Bowen could use the National Liquid Fuel Emergency Act (1984) to direct the supply of fuel domestically and impose measures like rationing. However, the minister has ruled out its use.
“It’s never been invoked, ever. Not through the first two Gulf Wars, not through COVID. It’s not designed to be invoked lightly,” he said of the Act.
“It really has powers primarily around defence and health in the first instance, to ensure that those key areas are getting the diesel they need, but also other forms of fuel. I would need to be satisfied that there’s a real shortage and that the powers under that act are useful.
“We are not contemplating at this point needing to use any of those powers. Of course they’re there and I think that can also give Australians reassurance that, yes, there are powers there and there’s plans in place, and we continue to be planning for the worst, should this get worse and should it roll on for a long time.
“But I really – because we’re sending the message to Australians that please buy as much fuel as you need but no more, no less – I do think that it’s important to put that in context.”
Mr Bowen said he would need the advice of the National Oil Supply Emergency Committee to invoke the Act. This committee includes representatives of each state and territory, as well as Commonwealth representatives, and has met seven times.
“I wouldn’t exercise those quite remarkable powers unless I had pretty strong advice that it was necessary in the circumstances. And obviously it’s something I would work through with the states. I’m not envisaging needing that. I’m hoping – certainly not hoping – that we need that. I certainly don’t envisage it being necessary, but of course it’s there, in extremis, if necessary.”
When asked at what point the government could trigger that Act and impose measures like fuel rationing, Mr Bowen noted state governments have those powers, but “we’re a long way from that”.
“There’s the national liquid emergency fuel policy response, which is actually a COAG agreement that was before the National Cabinet, agreed some 20 years ago. And it still exists. And it runs through the different powers that the states and territories have, the Commonwealth minister has, what you would do before you get there – voluntary measures, encouragement, etcetera.
“If we’ve got, you know, at this point say 74 out of the 80 ships that we expect arriving over April and May, we’ve got our refineries working full pelt and not exporting any diesel or petrol to any other country – just supplying Australia, which is the situation now after some changes I made a couple of weeks ago – that would indicate to me that we are continuing to see our fuel supply being strong.
“I understand people hear me say that and then they say, ‘well, I can’t get petrol at my service station; both things can’t be true’. Actually, both things can be true. We can have strong fuel imports into Australia and our refineries working very well and also have distribution challenges.
“It’s unacceptable distribution challenges if you’re in a regional area and struggling to get fuel. We have a number of petrol stations around the country – again, in the greater scheme of things, yes, it’s a small percentage of the service stations that can’t get fuel… [But] it’s a big problem for those people.”
Last week, the Albanese Government appointed Anthea Harris as the first Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator. Her role, the government says, will see her drive coordination between the federal and state and territory governments, as well as provide updates to these governments on the fuel supply outlook.
Since the latest Middle East conflict began around a fortnight ago, the Australian Government has released up to 20 per cent of national diesel and fuel reserves, and also temporarily amended fuel standards to allow for fuel with a higher sulfur content.
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