Fuel supply/ shortages

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

RE: Fuel supply/ shortages

Whenarewethere · Guru

I am a bit of a bastard, I go around & light up our Unit like a Christmas tree. Neighbours come around, questioning the blackout, I say we are ok.... we are running off batteries.

I don't know how many times this has to happen until people actually wake up!

Nothing has changed for decades.

rmoor · Guru

"I have not driven once since back home, so my "allocation" of fuel is there for others to use. But I do use 98, so probably not much use for all the fish & chip oil burners.

We get a lot of blackouts in Sydney, so I have a methylated spirits cooker at the ready. I love sending my neighbours pictures that I am easily cooking my dinner!."

I also have not driven very far for a few days in my diesel ute.
Two short trips to the supermarket and that is it.

Also conserving fuel for those who need it most.
Though do have more medical tests on Wednesday for an unavoidable 106 KM round trip.

I hope to pick up my old 1998 Suzuki today that I loaned to a mate for TWO weeks when his vehicle was off the road for repairs.
It has now been 3 weeks, so I am keen to get it back soon.
Then I can repair the damage he has done to it after I warned him of the Suzuki weak points!!!

Funny isn't it, I have owned that vehicle for 12 years and never busted anything on it.
Loan it to a a needy mate and I have 3 minor repairs to do if I get it back today!!!

As they say, never loan your fishing rod or your wife......

On the blackout front, we haven't had one out here in the bush for years.
Mind you, the powers that be would be loathe to turn us off, there would be an uprising.

We are surrounded by a sea of glass and wind farms and if they turned the lights out for 5 minutes, the whinging locals would cut loose then.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

fatty wrote:
Just to chuck a cat amongst the pigeons, without diesel to dig the coal and transport the coal to the power stations to produce electricity how do you city dwellers plan on keeping the electric trucks charged. The old slogan "without trucks Australia stops" comes to mind without diesel the trucks that keep the country going stop.

Can't remember which WA miner has developed an all battery electric ore train that delivers ore to Port Headland.

It is an average down hill run all the way from the mine to the port when fully loaded.
It has regenerative braking, so is fully charged when it gets to port and has sufficient battery capacity to get the empty train back up hill to the mine.
The battery NEVER needs external recharging.

Cheers,

Peter

Magnarc · Guru

One of our better moves. A 25kw battery at home,and a hybrid car that uses 5.7 litres per 100klms.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
fatty wrote:
Just to chuck a cat amongst the pigeons, without diesel to dig the coal and transport the coal to the power stations to produce electricity how do you city dwellers plan on keeping the electric trucks charged. The old slogan "without trucks Australia stops" comes to mind without diesel the trucks that keep the country going stop.
Can't remember which WA miner has developed an all battery electric ore train that delivers ore to Port Headland.
It is an average down hill run all the way from the mine to the port when fully loaded.
It has regenerative braking, so is fully charged when it gets to port and has sufficient battery capacity to get the empty train back up hill to the mine.
The battery NEVER needs external recharging.

Cheers,
Peter

BHP & Fortescue are both getting or already have electric locomotives.

These batteries will need charging:

Incat in Tasmania is building a ferry 2100/225 passenger/vehicle ferry for between Argentina & Uruguay with a 40 megawatt battery.

Also 2 electric ferries for the Danish company Molslinjen 1483/500 passengers/cars 45 megawatt battery. Will operate at speeds over 40 knots.

In Europe some ports supply shore power so the ships don't need to burn fuel while in port.

Back in 1992 we went on the cat to & from Tasmania but that was diesel powered.

Ineedabiggerboat · Guru

Do the miners have electric diggers.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
BHP & Fortescue are both getting or already have electric locomotives.
These batteries will need charging:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fortescue do have a bit of renewable energy.

Fortescue targets 2-3 GW of renewables to achieve its Real Zero by 2030 goals pv magazine Australia

Cheers,

Peter

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

This gave me a chuckle.
The Eyre Peninsula farmers in SA have been struggling to get enough fuel, meanwhile a supermarket in Port Lincoln (the largest regional town) ran out of toilet paper.
That says it all.
Cheers,
Peter

Whenarewethere · Guru

Ineedabiggerboat wrote:
Do the miners have electric diggers.

Yes

Plain Truth · Guru

Electric diggers and trucks

Bicyclecamper · Guru

I am lucky that I bought a small cc bike (411cc), I don't go over 90kphr, and I get 2.1 lt to the 100,and I use 2.5 lt at 100kmphr.. As we are only allowed to get 25lt's of petrol now from any servo in Inverell at the moment, it is not helpful when you live 50km from town using a car.

So early last week, we did a 2 month food shop, now we are just using the bike for appointments and little things, that we can fit in the panniers.

Yes, the country should be on odd's and evens rationing by now, the later they leave it, the worst it will be.

Brodie Allen · Guru

Good on yer, bigger boat.

First bit of relevant info on the thread.

B

DMaxer · Guru

All fuel destined for Australia has been delivered so far. Any shortages can be blamed on the greed of imbeciles panic purchasing and stockpiling. Add to that the moronic MSM and the simpletons who hang on their every word and it becomes a self inflicted problem. The dopes who panic buy can take their Jerry cans home and stack them next to the piles of dunny paper from their covid shopping days.

Ineedabiggerboat · Guru

When the fuel runs out, where you gonna go? Nothing will be open, therell be no goods on the shelf. Why stock up?

Whenarewethere · Guru

Every $0.10 fuel prices go up, there is 3% less usage. So self serving correction.

Give things a few weeks. Every last lawnmower & leaf blower will have full tanks. Then what do the doubling in fuel inventory storage retail sales do!?

I currently have 1/3 of a tank in the car, my 3 x 20L, 5 x 10L & 2 x 5L are all empty. I emptied them before I went overseas. I didn't want up to 120 litres of fuel bought at the low end of the Sydney price cycle sitting in the garage.

But, basically get over it. I was in Europe & UK for 3 months. Putting a 100/£100 in the tank in a small car was a very regular occurrence.

Current so called prices in Australia are cheap.

erad · Guru

I desided that fuel prices were going to increase, so I filled up at $1.71/Litre, late in the afternoon. Next morning, I had to go down to the local hospital, and the price had gone up to $1.849/Litre. Same servo, same pump. Coming back from the hospital an hour later, the price was $2.159 / Litre. Same pump, same servo. Of course, they must have had a top-up of their tanks in the ontervening times, I meean they wouldn't be ripping us off, would they?

rmoor · Guru

When around the corner at the local butcher shop today.
He was telling me the bulk of the farmers coming in all say they don't have enough diesel to crop in many instances.

They are all very dirty that their diesel supplies have diminished so much but still so available in the metropolitan areas.
The local farmers have put their heads together and are talking about only supplying the local regional abattoirs and cutting all supply to the larger abattoirs.
Many of the larger ones supply to the Metropolitan regions.
So they are saying, you don't give us diesel, we don't give you beef and lamb.

Fair enough.
I said to the butcher, well, the first one to cut out is Canberra......

watsea · Guru

Just before the rise in fuel prices, I filled my vehicle planning to do a trip. We have not gone Diesel price was 175.9 c/L
Just checked the price via PetrolSpy for the same outlet. Diesel price is 315.9 c/L.
Government tax is still the same ie no increase. So who is getting the extra $1.40 per Litre? Not the government.

-- Edited by watsea on Thursday 26th of March 2026 03:05:29 PM

-- Edited by watsea on Thursday 26th of March 2026 03:07:05 PM

-- Edited by watsea on Thursday 26th of March 2026 03:07:52 PM

Are We Lost · Guru

DMaxer wrote:
All fuel destined for Australia has been delivered so far. Any shortages can be blamed on the greed of imbeciles panic purchasing and stockpiling. Add to that the moronic MSM and the simpletons who hang on their every word and it becomes a self inflicted problem. The dopes who panic buy can take their Jerry cans home and stack them next to the piles of dunny paper from their covid shopping days.

You should take off your rose coloured glasses. While hoarding has no doubt driven demand higher, there is much more to it than that. While we are OK now, the next month and onwards is looking bleak.

The 6 cancelled tankers were all LR (long range) with a total capacity of around 400,000 - 500,000 tonnes of fuel. We have a small contingent of 3 MR (medium range) tankers on the way from the US via Panama. Larger vessels can not come through Panama. The higher overheads of smaller vessels, plus double the voyage time, plus Panama fees will make this pretty expensive fuel. The first of these is the Largo Eagle. It departed Texas a week ago and is due to arrive in Sydney around 18 April.

The three tankers have a mix of fuel products, and the diesel component of all combined is less than a single day's usage. All headed for Sydney and Melbourne, so not much joy for regional centres.

There are four tankers on the way from Europe ... just left or still to depart. With the voyage around the Cape of Good Hope the first of these is not due until mid May.

In the meantime, South Korea is normally our largest supplier. The South Korean government ruled that exports are being capped at 2025 levels, which means no more spot orders. Australia regularly bought on the spot market. China has stopped supplying entirely. So as Australia often bought from both of these on the spot market, virtually all our suppliers have stopped taking orders. Existing contracts are mostly being fulfilled, but exporters have reduced the quantities as the last step before Force Majeure to cancel the contracts entirely. If they run lower they will prioritise their own consumption. Singapore at least has given us priority in exchange for our commitment to keep the LNG flowing to them.

So in summary, Australia often bought at spot prices. Existing contracts are not being fully supplied and we are unable to buy at spot prices any longer (exception is Singapore with "through the roof" auction prices when available). That gives us a sizable shortfall. Hence the first ever orders from US and Europe via long and expensive routes.

What is notable is that Australia leads the developed world in fuel price increases. This is because we lead the developed world in another undesirable metric.... Australia has the lowest storage capacity in the develeloped world. Mandated at 32 days (normal level) and very little capacity to store more. At least 90 days storage is the guideline set for all 60 developed countries in IEA and EU and most regularly exceed those targets.

If only we had kept that reserve in Texas ... despite being a long way away, at least we could have used it.

So, no. Hoarding is not the issue. The root cause is our abysmally low local storage and refining capability.

rmoor · Guru

Mind you, the government are happy to sit on their hands as they have been doing.
For one simple reason, they are making an absolute killing with GST revenue on fuel.

Mind you, GST revenue supposedly goes to the states.
It is almost impossible to find who gets the penalties attached to GST lodgements though?
One suspects that is Federal Govt revenue.
About 12 months ago the current govt took a "take no prisoners" approach to tax fines and penalties.
Further hammering the business sector.

Leniency for some, but not for others.

I too filled up at $1.73 a few weeks ago.
I have NOT stockpiled any fuel whatsoever.

Loaned my old Suzuki Vitara to a mate had his car off the road for 3 weeks requiring and new gearbox so he could get to work.

Gave it to him half full and he returned it 3/4 full last Thursday, so I simply topped it up last week.
I tend to keep the diesel Isuzu ute topped up at all times, so no stockpiling from me.
Also have cut back on trips to conserve fuel, reckon that is plain logic.

We all need to do our bit.
Shame those at the top always sit on their hands at times of crisis though.

rmoor · Guru

The pollies in this country must think we are all stupid.
They make a song and dance about doubling penalties with the ACCC from 50 million to 100 million.

Though the ACCC really have no authority to act.
So it is all smoke and mirrors.

The ACCC can only act when collusion between major suppliers is evident.
Proving it would be almost impossible.
Also, false prices have to be advertised.
Fuel station price boards are NOT considered "advertising".
They are only considered to be price boards.

When questioned, the pollies say, oh - we cannot comment on matters before the courts.

There are probably none before the courts.
Just the odd Dept Fair Trading fine from inspectors who catch out the unlucky service stations in the middle of a price board change or error, or dishonesty?

DMaxer · Guru

The five tankers that were cancelled have been replaced together with an extra three that are already on their way. We have received exactly the amount of fuel we always do. The difference is that this is demand based, not supply based.

Australia is a very wealthy country with an economy in the top 12. When supply starts to be threatened overseas the price goes up and poorer countries cannot firstly afford to buy at the inflated price and secondly, even if they were, the punters who live there cannot afford to pay the new price. It wouldn't matter what price diesel or petrol went to in Australia, there would still be a market. Demand would drop but the supply would be maintained.

I was living in the USA in the mid seventies when the USA had a supply problem. The speed limits were all reduced and people used their cars less, but it never ran out.

I have two service stations not far from me that both suffered from supply difficulties. They usually get a drop each 21 -28 days and that does them until the next delivery. People went into a mad panic and they were drained in about ten days and no delivery coming for a couple of weeks. When this happens extra deliveries are needed and therefore regional and country areas miss out on their delivery as there are only so many fuel tankers. The shortage is not because of supply, there is plenty. It is a delivery problem caused by greed and panic buying.

I cannot see the Government bringing in rationing. All that will do is get the dunny paper hoarders using mum, dad's and grandma's car to run to the servo and fill up whether they need it or not just to syphon it into a drum when they get home. There is no fixing stupid. Price will fix the demand problem. Just simple economics.

-- Edited by DMaxer on Thursday 26th of March 2026 04:33:22 PM

Brodie Allen · Guru

If the crude is up say 100%, how come the fuel is up 300%

The refining costs don't change.

No profiteering?

eh?

B

Ineedabiggerboat · Guru

Its called greed, plain and simple.

DMaxer · Guru

When there is a cut or reduction in crude oil supply, the retail cost usually increases substantially more than the wholesale price has due to various factors. Taxes, bottlenecks at refineries, increased demand and the cost of replacing stock all contribute to the increase. It works this way with all commodities whether it is fuel, food, wool, you name it. Supply/demand, the market drives it.

rmoor · Guru

It is mystifying why nothing ever gets done by those "in authority" when these crisis occur?

If the shortages are due to stockpiling the moment the "war" broke out, then why aren't restrictions put in place immediately??
This happened with Covid.
It was plainly obvious it was going to be a disaster and nothing was done for weeks, then it got wildly out of hand.

We are about 3 weeks into this fuel crisis and again, so little has been done.
It has been allowed to escalate to the $3.20 or so for diesel now and crops look like being reduced to about 50%.
This will have huge medium to long term affects on food supply and future prices.

It is a bit like Agarn on F-Troop - "I don't know why they always say you are so dumb"?

The stockpiling should have been limited from day #1 and we may not be in this mess.
Pictures on TV of idiots stocking up at servos using a few of those 1,000 litre cottonseed oil drums etc should have been policed from day 1 and banned.
Many of those containers have brittle plastic in them once exposed to the sun and are not built for fuel storage.
That is an extremely dangerous practice.
Surely such practices should have attracted calls to police and MASSIVE fines levied.

Say 10 grand plus for such stupidity?
Trailers and vehicles filling up at servos all have rego numbers on them don't they?

I doubt if it is our farming friends that were party to this practice.
They have diesel delivered on farm from local depots (if stocks available).

There should have been one of those Covid like Govt national hook-ups and firm decisions made in this regard on day #1.

Further proof we are being governed by an over-paid bunch of retards.

Ineedabiggerboat · Guru

Politicians dont feel the same pain we do. They only care about being reelected. Power prices. Now fuel prices. Immigration. Productivity. Veterans. Health. Housing. Failed dismally on all counts.

Ineedabiggerboat · Guru

Add NDIS rorts. Black market cigarettes. I could go on and on. Is there anyone on here who will vote them back in?

rmoor · Guru

Black market cigarettes perplexes me?

Why is that allowed to proliferate and continue - go figure?
They also tell a pack of lies, for many pensioners, they didn't get any recent CPI increase at all.

A friend told me yesterday they got $1 more a fortnight.
What they do is raise the Deeming Rate at the same time as the social security CPI increases go through.
They raised them in September and again just recently.
Another friend didn't get the $22 pension CPI increase, but lost $34 a fortnight instead!!!

Pensioners don't need to have much in the way of a small super balance or some funds in an investment account to get bitten with increased Deeming rates when the CPI increases are mooted.

Yet, a lying deceptive woman can stand up in Parliament question time this week and brag about the "increases".
When in fact many pensioners just got robbed blind!!!

These over-paid incompetents are nothing more than an arrogant bunch of lying hounds.

I am off to another NSW vets golf tournament in a few weeks time with booked accommodation from months ago.
Using the old Suzuki Vitara to run around town now, medical appointments etc and conserving the full tank of diesel in the Isuzu towing ute.

A bit concerned about the trip home though, what will the situation be in 2 or 3 weeks time?

There is only one certainty, little will be done at the top and there will be more lies than diesel.
If only we could convert what comes out of politicians mouths into energy, we would NEVER have an issue.