Australia’s energy minister, Chris Bowen, stated that Australia has secured its fuel for at least up until May due to ongoing tensions involving Iran which has been causing turmoil in the oil market globally.
According to Bowen, speaking in an interview conducted yesterday, “no ships have broken any of our contracts with us” while noting that supply is now secure legally.
He further added that with every day that passes, more orders and shipments arrive, ensuring a more secure order book.
Bowen revealed that currently, 53 fuel tankers are heading into Australia from Asia, as well as the US and Mexico.
The contracts were described by Bowen as being legally binding, implying that all of the fuel shipped will be the property of Australian businesses.
However, he was also quite wary, recognizing the harsh global situation and admitting that “risks will continue while the straits of Hormuz are closed.”
The update comes as the number of stations that ran out of gas kept going down over the long Easter weekend.
The minister said that as of Sunday morning, 3.4% of Australian service stations were out of stock.
New South Wales is still the worst hit state, with 142 of 2400 stations saying they don’t have any diesel and 39 saying they don’t have any unleaded petrol.
Victoria was one of 1700 that didn’t have diesel and 30 that didn’t have unleaded. In Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, the numbers were lower.
The government was focusing mainly on the agricultural zones, particularly in New South Wales where farmers are feeling a great deal of pressure since it is the autumn sowing season.
Industry representatives and farmers have highlighted that this is among the worst times, especially considering fuel delays could cause delays in harvesting cereal and other crops.
This particular crisis has arisen due to the closure of Strait of Hormuz since February, after the outbreak of conflict between Iran.
Australia depends upon Asia refineries for over 80 percent of its petrol, diesel and jet fuel, while these refineries depend upon the Middle East for around 60 to 70% of their crude oil requirements.
The Australian Parliament has recently passed Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment Bill 2026, according to which the government now has the authority to directly work with suppliers for fuel purchases through Export Finance Australia.
This bill has also introduced an arrangement for critical minerals strategic reserve.
Meanwhile, economist Saul Kavonic has said that Australia needs to be less dependent on imports for fuel, because this creates economic and national security risks.
He also said that renewable energy sources can’t realistically take the place of diesel and jet fuel at this time.
The government’s message right now is to be careful with how they handle things.
The supply is stable, shipments are coming in and the order book is getting bigger. But the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and there is no diplomatic solution in sight, so there is still little room for error.
