Australia relaxes fuel stockpile rules as Energy Minister assures motorists petrol won’t run out

Millions of litres of additional fuel will be released from Australian stockpiles as the government grapples with rising petrol prices while also assuring motorists that supplies are “nowhere near” running out.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced the “minimum stock obligation” for diesel will reduce from 2.7 billion litres to 2.2 billion litres, and from a billion litres to 700 million litres for petrol in round terms.

“This will enable fuel companies to more flexibly manage their supply chain. Now this fuel will not be released immediately,” Mr Bowen said while insisting it was a “sensible, well calibrated response from the government”.

When pressed repeatedly over whether Australia was in danger of running out of fuel, Mr Bowen noted international circumstances were “uncertain” and said people shouldn’t pretend to know “exactly how the next few weeks are going to play out”.

“I think the sort of inflammatory ‘running out’ language — we are nowhere near that. We have minimum stock obligations in place. I’ve announced a sensible calibration today of those. Eighty per cent of it remains for future needs, if necessary.”

“I’ve announced a sensible, calibrated relaxation of stockpiles to enable companies to better manage their supply chain. I’m asking them to send more fuel to regional Australia. In order for them to do that, it’s sensible to relax the rules a little bit”.

Earlier on Friday fellow cabinet minister Mark Butler refused to be drawn on the question asked on Seven’s Sunrise: “Will Australians run out of fuel?”

“Well, we’ve been working really hard over the last few years preparing for a situation just like this,” he said.

“We have more fuel on hand than we have had at any time in the last 15 years,” Minister Butler insisted.

On three occasions the energy minister also ruled out introducing petrol rationing when pressed on whether he was considering the extreme measure to deal with the crisis.

Mr Bowen also lashed out at “un-Australian” individuals who he accused of hoarding fuel and then trying to sell it online at inflated prices.

“I ask Australians buy as much fuel as you need, no more, no less. There are other people, I’ve seen it on Facebook marketplace, filling up jerry cans, Bunnings running out of jerry cans, selling fuel at inflated prices.”

“That is un-Australian. It’s dangerous. It shouldn’t be done now. We shouldn’t lump everybody in, (that’s) clearly a minority of people doing that”.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, who served as energy minister in the previous coalition government, accused Minister Bowen of taking too long to acknowledge the crisis facing Australia.

“He’s asleep at the wheel. He’s hopeless. I mean this is the bloke that promised us electricity price reductions and we’re nowhere near it. Just get the supplies,” Mr Taylor told reporters in Sydney.

“He tells us they’re there. Get them to the customers. Make sure they get to the customers. He’s completely failed on that. And the starting point for why he’s failed is he hasn’t admitted there was a problem until yesterday.”

On three occasions the energy minister ruled out introducing petrol rationing when pressed on whether he was considering the extreme measure to deal with the crisis.

Mr Bowen also lashed out at “un-Australian” individuals who he accused of hoarding fuel and then trying to sell it online at inflated prices.

“I ask Australians buy as much fuel as you need, no more, no less. There are other people, I’ve seen it on Facebook marketplace, filling up jerry cans, Bunnings running out of jerry cans, selling fuel at inflated prices.”

“That is un-Australian. It’s dangerous. It shouldn’t be done now. We shouldn’t lump everybody in, (that’s) clearly a minority of people doing that”.

On Friday Australia’s competition watchdog, the ACCC, expressed concern about the “movements of prices at the bowser for Australian consumers and businesses in comparison to international prices”.

“We know that many consumers are doing it tough and are frustrated by the rapid changes they have seen. We expect petrol retailers to explain to us and the Australian public how they have arrived at their prices,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

In Albany, Roger Cook welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to tap national reserves to ease the regional shortage.

The State Government’s new industry operational committee met for the first time on Thursday to work on re-stocking supply chains that have been left short of diesel.

The Premier again blamed high consumption.

“I urge everyone please do two things. One, be vigilant about any fuel stations that are seeking to take advantage of the concerns and anxieties out there in the community,” he said.

“Drive past those fuel stops. Go to the ones which are offering cheaper fuel. But also, please, everyone, do not take more fuel than you need.”

He insisted the fuel shortages were unpredictable, but conceded fuel supplies were not able to re-stock quickly enough to keep up with the surge in demand.

“As a result of that, you saw local suppliers run down their their tanks very, very quickly,” Mr Cook said.

“We didn’t see that because of the depletion of those tanks, and as a result of that, you now see this short term shortage, but we know it comes at a difficult time, particularly for farmers.

“We are moving doing everything we can to ensure that we replenish those stocks.”

He said the industry operations group will meet daily to fast-track supplies to towns in need, using longer road trains where safe to increase fuel efficiency and move freight faster.