Six shipments of fuel to Australia have been cancelled or deferred since the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East, but alternative supplies have replaced several of them, Australian energy minister Chris Bowen said on 22 March.
Australia's fuel shipments are at an average of 81 shipments/month, Bowen said. The average number of shipments of fuel to Australia came in at 79.75 shipments/month in 2025, data from trade analytics platform Vortexa show, with an average of 42.8, 16 and 7.75 shipments/month of gasoil, gasoline and jet fuel, respectively, in 2025.
Australia will have sufficient fuel supply until March and April, Bowen previously said on 19 March. But there will be more uncertainty in the second half of April, he added.
The cancelled shipments came from a combination of suppliers based in Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia, he said. South Korea has imposed export controls on April shipments, and China has introduced a near-term ban on oil product exports. The two countries account for more than half of Asia-Pacific's seaborne clean product exports, data from trade analytics platform Kpler show. Bowen did not mention China's curtailment of exports.
Australia is more likely to experience "bumps in supply" than a complete cut off from international suppliers and the government will "work with refiners and the importers to manage and minimise impact", Bowen said.
Australia had 30 days of gasoil and jet fuel supply at the normal rate of consumption and 38 days' worth of gasoline as of 17 March (see graph), the latest data on fuel stocks in the country under the Minimum Stockholding Obligation (MSO) from Australia's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) show. This was 18pc, 28pc and 78pc above the required volumes of gasoil, jet fuel and gasoline, respectively, under the MSO.
A 20pc reduction in the MSO is currently in place, as of 17 March. The MSO was reduced for each company to which it applies on 13 March, to ensure extra supply of gasoil and gasoline flows to regions experiencing shortages.
Australia's federal government is not looking at invoking the National Liquid Fuel Emergency Act 1984, which would allow it to impose fuel rationing and control fuel distribution across Australia, Bowen said. State governments have the power to indirectly ration fuel consumption by restricting vehicle use to essential travel only or allocate fuel within their jurisdiction.
The Australian government is currently focused on security of supply and delivery, Bowen said when asked directly whether the government was willing to subsidise the importation of fuel to keep prices down. "The biggest impact on petrol prices will be the international oil price," he added.
Meanwhile, Australian mining company St Barbara's Simberi Operations, an open-cut gold mine in Papua New Guinea, is well stocked with diesel, it said today. Diesel for the mine is supplied by Puma Energy and originates from various refineries in Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, it added. The operation uses about 65,000 litres/d of diesel for its mining fleet and power generation.
