Dozens of service stations across Australia have run out of petrol as panic buying driven by fuel-price spikes leaves supply chains struggling to keep pumps topped up. Authorities have temporarily loosened rules and released part of the national stockpile while rejecting rationing.
Panic Buying Forces Shortages Across Regions
Distributors are struggling to meet surging demand, with the New South Wales government identifying 32 out of 3, 000 service stations in the state as being out of at least one fuel type on Monday morning. The shortfalls have been enough to leave some single-station towns without supply.
The NRMA warned that regulators “missed” the chance to stop early price hikes and said record-high fuel may be here to stay in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane after prices soared at the start of the Middle East conflict. Retail prices for households and businesses were expected to remain at near-record highs on the east coast, a trend blamed on stations that increased prices early in the crisis.
Government Response: Stockpile Release And Temporary Quality Changes
The federal government has allowed fuel companies to temporarily sell lower-quality petrol and to release about a fifth of their mandatory stockpile, prioritising regional Australia. Officials have ruled out fuel rationing as a policy option for now.
Despite the measures, concerns remain over who will receive priority deliveries. The premier, Chris Minns, said the state has enough fuel but is finding it harder to distribute to regions when motorists are stockpiling at local stations. “It’s harder to restock those petrol stations if they’ve got more than expected out of the bowser on any given day, ” he said.
Regional Impact And Strain On Independent Suppliers
Regional communities and independent stations have reported acute shortages. The Victorian Farmers Federation president, Brett Hosking, said entire towns had run dry, naming Wedderburn and Bonnie Doon in central Victoria and Robinvale in the north-west as examples. He warned that tankers are having to prioritise some sites and that city motorists are also demanding fuel.
In Western Australia two service stations in the town of Manjimup ran dry, and industrial fuel suppliers have limited sales to 10, 000 litres per customer, the local shire president, Donelle Buegge. Independent stations have found it difficult to access supply after major suppliers prioritised regular customers, cutting off smaller buyers who purchase fuel on the spot market.
Some independent suppliers have stopped offering fuel they can no longer afford as wholesale prices surged and caught up with the recent retail price spike, a spokesperson for the NRMA said, adding to the pressure on regional and independent outlets.
The situation remains fluid as distributors attempt to rebalance deliveries and the government monitors the impact of the stockpile release and temporary quality relaxations. Authorities have not implemented rationing, and industry bodies continue to warn that rising wholesale demand and early price increases could keep pump prices elevated on the east coast.
