Australia has secured an additional supply of some 100 million litres of diesel from Brunei and South Korea, as the country looked to boost supplies hit by the Mideast war, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday.
The Australian leader’s comments come as a crucial refinery outside Melbourne was hit by a fire overnight, raising the spectre of further disruptions to the country’s fuel supplies.
“I can announce that my government has secured an additional 100 million litres (26 million gallons) of diesel from two shipments. One from Brunei, where I was yesterday, and one from South Korea,” the leader told a press conference in Malaysia.
“This is the first of many expected shipments secured, under the government’s new strategic reserve powers,” said Albanese, who is meeting his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim to strengthen energy ties.
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Australia holds roughly 38 days’ worth of petrol in reserve, according to government figures, far below the 90-day minimum dictated by the International Energy Agency.
While the government has so far resisted moves to ration fuel, it has urged drivers to conserve petrol where they can and to favour public transport if possible.
Like most nations in Asia and the South Pacific, Australia is heavily reliant on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which at one point carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
Shipping traffic through the vital waterway has essentially ceased since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.
AFP