SINGAPORE: As news reports said that “hundreds” of petrol stations across Australia are out of fuel, the country signed an agreement with Singapore to ensure that the supply of diesel and petrol would continue to flow.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a joint statement on Monday (Mar 23), expressing “deep concern situation in the Middle East and its consequences for our region,” which include the effects on energy supply chains and prices.
The two countries affirmed their commitment to work together towards energy supply chain resilience, not only in terms of regional cooperation but also in the pursuit of renewable energy transition.
PM Wong further underlined in a social media post how Australia is an important source of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Singapore.
“Singapore will continue to keep trade flowing. As a global refining and trading hub, we will keep our markets open and do our part to ensure supply chains run smoothly during this period of uncertainty,” he added.
At the end of the statement, Singapore and Australia called on other trading partners to join in the call to keep global energy supply chains open.
PM Wong wrote in another post on March 23 that he had also spoken with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, who is scheduled to visit Singapore in May, on the phone earlier that day.
The fuel situation in Australia
On March 23, a report in The Guardian quoted Chris Bowen, Australia’s energy minister, as saying in federal parliament that in New South Wales, 7 stations had run out of petrol. In Queensland, meanwhile, 47 stations had no diesel, and 32 had no regular unleaded fuel. In Victoria, 109 outlets no longer had at least one grade of petrol. Additionally, the Premier of New South Wales had also said that in his state, 105 fuel stations no longer had diesel.
On Sunday (March 22), Mr Bowen announced that six oil ships from Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea that had been scheduled to arrive in Australia in April had been cancelled or deferred.
Before the conflict in the Middle East, which began on Feb 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, most of Australia’s oil came from Asia. With the current disruptions, however, Australia has been importing an unprecedented amount of oil from the United States, Reuters reported on Friday.
Australia typically receives around 80 oil shipments each month.
“The flow of oil to Asian refineries has slowed, and that has downward impacts on us. We’re in an uncertain environment,” Mr Bowen said, adding that Australia has a 38-day supply of petrol, and a 30-day supply of diesel and jet fuel.
With disruptions to the oil shipments scheduled to arrive in April and May, however, the coming weeks may well be more challenging, he said. /TISG
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