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Fuel prices may have hiked, but panic buying has been blamed for being at the root of supply issues for drivers across Western Australia.
As prices for petrol and diesel skyrocketed overnight, some fuel stations have put in limitations on the amount of fuel that can be purchased to manage the recent spike in demand.
Fears that fuel prices would increase as a result of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East became real on Tuesday as diesel jumped to 238.9¢ per litre across the Perth metro region while petrol reached 219.9¢ per litre.
But Premier Roger Cook assured WA motorists fuel was still reaching the state in regular quantities and panic buying was not necessary.
“I know Western Australians are concerned about the impacts of this war and how it may impact the state and I know one of those concerns is about fuel prices and that many Western Australians have already felt it at the bowser,” Cook said during question time in state parliament on Tuesday.
Cook said the state government was closely monitoring the fuel situation across Australia for any impacts on WA.
“The most recent advice continues to be that there are no direct impacts to contracted fuel supplies,” he said.
“Fuel continues to arrive in Australia in the quantity and the frequency that we would expect, but I am aware that we are seeing increased demand and with reports of temporary disruptions at some retailers.”
In a bid to combat this, Cook will host a “fuel security roundtable” on Wednesday with fuel suppliers and key industries that relied on a stable supply of fuel to “get the insights” on what they’re facing on the ground.
“We want to make sure that Western Australians have the most competitive fuel prices possible,” he said.
Minister pleads to pause panic-buying
Earlier on Tuesday, Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson pleaded with motorists to stop panic buying fuel.
“What we’re seeing at the moment is that it is demand that’s driving the disruption, not the actual supply,” Sanderson said during a press conference.
“So all of the contracts are being filled, 100 per cent absolutely being filled. But where the disruption is occurring is where people are panic buying or stockpiling fuel.
“So we would respectfully ask that people don’t do that.
“People are using more than they normally would, so they’re buying more than they would. They’re filling up their car more than they usually would, and that’s challenging the internal supply chain.”
Meanwhile, fuel stations have limited motorists on how much fuel they can buy at one time.
Gnowangerup Fuel Supplies, in the Great Southern, told motorists they could only purchase up to $200 worth of fuel as a result of the recent panic buying.
“Our bowsers are still up and running but we have had to put restrictions in place. Maximum spend $200,” the station posted to social media on Tuesday.
“Shell cards are currently unavailable. Please don’t try to stockpile just watch what you are using so everyone can have some. Hopefully we will be able to go back to normal soon.”
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch compared the fuel stockpiling to the toilet paper hoarding during COVID.
“It’s a bit like the toilet paper debacle of COVID, I think we need to just be sensible, as people over the age of 40 probably have been through this many times with conflicts in the Middle East and other conflicts around the world,” he told Radio 6PR on Tuesday.
“I’m pretty confident we will come out the other side here and everything will be OK, the fuel might be a little bit expensive for a while.”
But if things take a turn for the worse, Blanch said he would have a role to play to mitigate the crisis.
“I’m also the State Emergency Coordinator and whilst the fuel situation is not a situation yet, it’s only a price increase situation, if it becomes a shortage situation, if this war does escalate, then it may become an energy emergency,” he said.
“We’re a long way from that but as a state emergency coordinator, that’s when I’ll have a role to play.”
Farmers feeling the fuel pressures
WA opposition agriculture and food spokesman Lachlan Hunter raised concerns over the impacts a diesel shortage would have on local farmers
Hunter said farmers across regional WA were reporting diesel deliveries had been halted, with some told supply may not resume for up to six weeks.
“Some operations have already ceased because they cannot get the fuel they need to run their machinery,” he said.
“This should alarm every Western Australian.”
During federal parliament question time on Tuesday, Nationals O’Connor MP Rick Wilson also raised concerns over farmers in the regions not being able to access fuel.
“A potato farmer in Manjimup, Dom texted me, ‘I rang up Fuelswest to order some fuel yesterday, they told me they have no fuel, and a three-week waiting list for deliveries. I have 10 days’ fuel left, and after that, you won’t be eating my spuds’,” Wilson said.
“Last week [Energy Minister Chris Bowen] said our fuel supplies were in good shape – can the minister reassure Dom ... they will get the fuel they need?”
In response, Bowen acknowledged there could be real pressures on regional supply of diesel despite the fuel supply being in “very good shape”.
“There’s an obligation on all of us .... [to make the point] that we do have a good supply of petrol and diesel and jet fuel to Australia and there is no need for panic buying,” Bowen said.
“Because it is the massive spikes in demand we are seeing which is causing supply chain constraints, not an interruption of shipping to Australia, that has not yet occurred, we’re alive to the risks, but that has not occurred at this point.”
Government intervention
Asked on Tuesday morning whether the government would use its power under the Petroleum Pricing Act to put a cap on petrol prices, Sanderson said: “everything’s on the table.”
“Certainly, there are provisions within the act that allow the government to intervene to a certain extent and in various circumstances, we’re looking closely at that, but we need to understand any potential unintended consequences here, and any potential disruption that that may cause as well,” she said.
Cook said he had called on retailers over the last few days to “stop taking advantage of the anxiety that consumers are experiencing at the moment.”
“Now, what you’re seeing across the state, I think, is everyone’s fuelling up, filling up their storage tanks, their jerry cans, their cars, and so you’ve seen a temporary spike that our business as usual, supply chains can’t respond to in the immediate days after,” he said.
“But we expect things to continue to settle as you continue to see supply chains be resilient and continue to see the flow of fuel into the state.”
FuelWatch expects Wednesday’s diesel prices across Perth will reach 259.9¢ per litre, while petrol will hit 234.9¢ per litre.
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