Sydney, April 4 (IANS) Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen said on Saturday that Australia’s fuel supply “remains strong” and more petrol is getting to service stations across the country.
Providing a weekly update on fuel supply, Bowen told reporters in Sydney that Australia had about 39 days’ worth of petrol, 29 days of diesel, and 30 days of jet fuel in reserve.
“The fact these figures are effectively flat means fuel is going out the door to service stations and farmers, and fuel is going in the door at Australia’s import terminals and refineries,” said Bowen.
He said the number of petrol stations experiencing fuel shortages was declining, and efforts to replenish supplies were ongoing, with 50 shipments on their way to Australia.
“Australia’s fuel supply remains strong, still more than 50 ships on their way to Australia,” Bowen said, adding there had been six cancelled orders but they had been replaced by new orders.
The total number of service stations without diesel in Australia, which is where the main pressure has been, is 312 out of the around 8,000 service stations, he told reporters, Xinhua news agency reported.
He reiterated the Australian government’s call for people to stick to their Easter holiday plans, but to buy no more fuel than they needed and to buy it in the city to help keep fuel supplies up in the country.
Earlier this week, the leader of Australia’s most populous state said that the country must have more control over its energy to reduce exposure to future oil price shocks.
Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales (NSW), said that Australia must consider how it can reduce its reliance on oil from the Middle East amid the ongoing supply crisis caused by the conflict in the region.
“We need more sovereignty and control over our energy, and we need to be able to drive our economy independent of what happens in the Middle East,” he said on Tuesday.
He said that policymakers in Australia must start making decisions now so that the country is not continually affected by conflicts in the Middle East.
Minns said that his government would use the upcoming state budget for the 2026-27 financial year and the campaign for the 2027 state election to announce long-term measures to electrify NSW’s economy.
“That means more electric vehicles, it means more charging stations, it means more practical ways that we can look to the future of our economy,” he said.
In response to fuel supply concerns, the NSW government on Tuesday announced it will adjust freight load limits to allow longer trucks to travel on the state’s road network and lift curfews to allow more freight to travel, load and unload at night.
According to the NSW government, the longer trucks will use at least 18 percent less diesel per ton of payload and carry 33 percent more freight.
–IANS
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