News
01/04/26
Asia fuel crunch pushes Australia to US, Europe
Sydney, 1 April (Argus) — Australia is drawing oil products from the US and
Europe to replace cancelled Asian cargoes, as regional export curbs, refinery
run cuts and conflict-related disruptions tighten supply and extend voyage times
for importers. Six shipments of fuel to Australia had been cancelled or deferred
following the outbreak of the US-Iran war as of 22 March, energy minister Chris
Bowen said. There have been no further official updates, but several of the lost
shipments have been replaced with alternative supplies, he said. Australia
imported an average of 79.75 clean product cargoes/month in 2025, including 42.8
gasoil cargoes, 16 gasoline and 7.75 jet fuel shipments, according to Vortexa.
The Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act passed through the Australian
parliament yesterday, giving government agency Export Finance Australia new
authority to underwrite additional cargoes of critical imports , including fuel
and fertilizer, because rising risk premiums are challenging independent
importers. A surge in demand from panic buying shortly after the war started has
added to the urgency to replace cancelled cargoes as service stations across the
country have run out of fuel, especially in regional areas. Australia held
17.1mn bl of gasoil, 10.6mn bl of gasoline and 5.2mn bl of jet fuel on 24 March,
equivalent to around 30 days of gasoil and jet fuel consumption and 39 days of
gasoline, according to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment
and Water. Long haul flows rise from the US At least eight tankers loaded in the
US are currently en route to Australia, vessel tracking data from Vortexa show,
comprising six gasoil cargoes and two gasoline shipments. Combined, the vessels
are carrying more than 2.3mn bl of diesel and just over 600,000 bl of gasoline (
see table ). Three of the diesel cargoes were loaded at Phillips 66's 105,000
b/d Ferndale refinery on the US west coast, while one gasoline cargo was shipped
from ExxonMobil's 612,000 b/d Beaumont refinery on the US Gulf coast and a
gasoil cargo was loaded at Valero's 135,000 b/d Meraux refinery in the US Gulf.
Two additional cargoes were loaded at ExxonMobil's 522,500 b/d Baton Rouge
refinery with Vortexa showing both carrying gasoil, while Kpler data indicates
the Medium Range tanker Nord Ventura is carrying jet fuel from the refinery to
Australia. Another cargo was loaded at Chevron's 112,000 b/d refinery in
Pasadena, Texas. Australia draws gasoil from Europe Australia is set to import a
rare gasoil cargo loaded via ship-to-ship transfer in the
Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region to replace lost Asian supply. The Long
Range 2 (LR) tanker STI Solace is transporting 707,100 bl of gasoil to Botany
Bay near Sydney for early May arrival, having loaded via ship-to-ship (STS)
transfer from the 115,000dwt Oslo Star in the North Sea on 19 March according to
Vortexa and Kpler. The STI Solace may have been chartered by ExxonMobil or BP,
market sources said. The Oslo Star , also an LR2 tanker, had previously loaded
242,768 bl and 536,647 bl of gasoil from Kuwait's Al Zour and Mina Al Ahmadi
refineries. The vessel traversed the strait of Hormuz on 22 February before
heading through the Suez Canal toward northeast Europe, where it then discharged
125,796 bl of gasoil into Rotterdam storage prior to making the STS transfer.
Asian supply remains constrained Arrivals of gasoil into Australia fell by
nearly 1.47mn bl in March compared with January, Vortexa data show ( see graph:
Australia middle distillates imports in 2026 ). Gasoline and jet fuel arrivals
were down by 0.25mn bl and 1.85mn bl over the same period. April arrivals are on
track to be even lower, with a particularly sharp drop expected in gasoil flows.
Some late-April loadings could still reach the east coast before month-end,
although sailing times from southeast and northeast Asia typically range between
10-20 days. Regional availability has tightened sharply since Beijing instructed
refiners to halt exports of transportation fuels and Seoul imposed export caps
limiting shipments to 100pc of their 2025 monthly levels. Lower refinery run
rates across the Asia-Pacific have further reduced spot supply to Australian
buyers. Delivered product prices into Australia have risen since the conflict
began, with delivered US Gulf coast gasoil into Japan — an imperfect proxy for
Australian delivered pricing from the US Gulf — showing strong gains. Freight
costs would add a premium to any US Gulf cargoes bound for Australia. By Tom
Woodlock Fuel shipments from US and Europe to Australia bl Product Volume ETA
Vessel Loading point Discharge port Diesel 277,500 14-Apr Cape Andiamo Meraux,
US Gulf Newcastle, NSW Diesel 175,700 19-Apr Atlantic Sunshine Ferndale, USWC
Melbourne, Vic Diesel 293,900 20-Apr Maersk Cyprus Ferndale, USWC Brisbane, Qld
Gasoline 300,000 20-Apr CL Zhaoge Beaumont, US Gulf Botany Bay, NSW Gasoline
316,200 24-Apr Hansa Sealancer Pasadena, US Gulf Botany Bay, NSW Diesel 24,600
24-Apr Hansa Sealancer Pasadena, US Gulf Botany Bay, NSW Diesel 323,500 27-Apr
Betelgeuse Ferndale, USWC Brisbane, Qld Diesel 707,100 29-Apr STI Solace STS in
ARA region Botany Bay, NSW Diesel 300,000 5-May Largo Eagle Baton Rouge, US Gulf
Port Hedland, WA or Sydney, NSW Diesel or Jet Fuel 285,000 10-May Nord Ventura
Baton Rouge, US Gulf Port Hedland, WA Source- Vortexa Australia middle
distillates imports in 2026 Asia fuel crunch pushes Australia to US, Europe Send
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