Empty bowsers: 80 NSW service stations run out of diesel fuel

Premier Chris Minns conceded there were shortfalls in some areas, but said there was enough supply to keep the pumps running.

He blamed panic buying for fuel shortages crippling parts of Sydney and the state.

The Premier said there was some evidence that suppliers have been “unable” to deliver fuel that had been ordered by independent retailers that purchase supply on the spot market.

“We want to understand why, and we’ll be speaking with the oil industry to ensure that they are distributing those that oil, that petrol, that diesel to regional independent petrol stations,” he told parliament.

Mr Minns told people to stop buying more fuel than they need.

“Don’t over-consume it because it will come or may come at the expense of a neighbour or another member of the community.”

Widespread petrol station shutdowns have spread from the bush to Sydney, with multiple retailers running out of petrol despite Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s repeated denials of a shortage.

The Daily Telegraph spoke with nine service station retailers across western and northwestern Sydney who said they had completely run out of petrol, or were very close to running dry, as drivers rush to bowsers with jerry cans in response to skyrocketing fuel prices exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East.

More than 38 petrol stations across the state have been reported as being out of petrol according to the latest FuelCheck data.

However, it is likely far more retailers are being affected by shortages as they need to manually report to authorities that they have run out.

While many of the shortage hotspots had been previously reported across regional NSW, they are now spreading across metropolitan areas, with retailers reporting a surge in panic buying.

On Tuesday evening, all fuel pumps at the Epping 7-Eleven petrol station were marked out of order.

“We are still waiting for our delivery from Monday and it could be another 24 hours away,” the attendant told The Daily Telegraph.

When asked if this was because of a shortage, the attendant said: “It’s getting harder to get fuel at a good price and the majors are all looking after themselves.”

Other stations, such as Budget Petrol in Telopea, the Caltex at Pennant Hills and Medco North Parramatta had run out of unleaded 9 fuel.

U-Go in Carlingford has also completely run out of fuel.

The Epping 7-Eleven station manager, who did not wish to be named, said he had seen an increase in customers filling up jerry cans.

As a result, the station had no fuel for more than 24 hours.

“I definitely think it’s because people are panic buying,” he said.

“We’ve seen a few people come by with jerry cans and fill them up. We got our delivery last night and are luckily open now.”

Another Ampol station, on Parramatta Road in Granville, is completely out of diesel.

When the Daily Telegraph visited the location on Thursday around midday, three heavy duty trucks arrived only to leave immediately after upon seeing the empty pumps.

Staff could not comment on the impact this loss of trade is having.

The forecourt was vacant while rows of cars and trucks passed the station.

Meanwhile, a self-service Ampol station on Seven Hills Road in Baulkham Hills has run completely out of fuel.

A nearby mechanic described the usually “flat out” station as a “ghost town”.

He said that the last fuel delivery arrived on Tuesday evening and that there’s no clear time for when it will be restocked.

When visited by the Daily Telegraph, multiple drivers were forced to turn away and head to a more expensive BP station across the road after finding the pumps empty.

Diane Drewett, a local resident, was forced to turn away from her preferred U-Go petrol station after finding the pumps empty.

“It’s quicker and cheaper, you just tap your card and go. I always go to this one.

“But now I’ve had to come all the way here.”

“It’s more expensive,” she said.

These developments are at odds with Mr Bowen’s repeated messages over the last week that Australia was not experiencing a fuel shortage.

He did not respond to the Telegraph’s questions about fuel shortages in Sydney.

The industry has warned the shortages arise from distribution issues rather than a lack of on-land fuel.

In a pre-budget speech in Melbourne on Thursday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will reveal Treasury modelling shows the war in Iran could force inflation above 5 per cent.

“It means the prospect of inflation peaking in the high 4s or even higher this year is very real,” Mr Chalmers will tell the Australian Business Economists event.

“Treasury estimates that GDP would be 0.6 per cent lower in 2027 and even by 2029 would still be below where it would have been without the conflict.

“Around half of the impact to GDP is due to the impact of higher oil. The other half is due to broader consequences.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to announce plans to distribute fuel across the country Thursday during an emergency national cabinet to respond to the fuel crisis.

Measures could include a support package for the country’s remaining two oil refineries and the appointment of a top bureaucrat to oversee the supply chain.

“My message to Australians is to not use more fuel than you need,” he said on Wednesday.

Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association (ACAPMA) chief executive Rowan Lee said petrol retailers who did not purchase wholesale petrol on rolling contracts in order to get the cheapest price were most at risk of running dry.

He said retailers who bought petrol on a permanent contract had not been running low, but budget retailers who purchased on the “spot market” had been impacted across the state.

“What that means is that (a retailer) will buy off Ampol this week because they’re the cheapest, and then will buy off BP in two weeks’ time because they’re cheapest,” Mr Lee said.

“But what they’re risking is guaranteed supply because they then, at times like this, have been shuffled to the back of the queue because of increased demand.

“In the cities, there has been panic buying. You can’t buy jerry cans at Bunnings anymore. And that’s not something we encourage because you don’t want to be storing fuel in your home or in your garage, and it’s not safe to do it on the forecourt either.”

Northwest Sydney residents have been at the coalface of the fuel shortage, with many saying they had stopped driving and jumping back on public transport.

West Pennant Hills residents Push Singh, 50, and his son Jain, 9, have seen local petrol stations closed due to fuel shortages.

“I’ve seen panic buying on Facebook and reels … I’ve seen other stations that are closed and I saw one yesterday (where) the prices were blacked out,” he said.

“A sign is if they have no prices and then in the driveway, they have tagged the pumps.”

While Mr Singh said he has started taking more public transport to work, the price of filling up his Honda Civic has increased from $70 to $123.

North Epping retail worker Juan Luis said seeing petrol station closures in the heart of Sydney terrified him.

“It’s a bit frightening to see it happening here in the middle of Sydney after all those country towns went dry,” he said.

“They keep saying everything is OK, but it’s clearly not. This is Epping, not the outback.”

Federal Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said the government had done little to put processes in place to understand exactly where the shortages are.

“They need to know where the shortages are, so they immediately need to put in place processes to know where the shortages are. We’ve been asking them to do that for two weeks now,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

Premier Chris Minns said his biggest concern was currently diesel supply, which has reached nearly $3 a litre and is necessary to keep trucks, farms and construction projects afloat.

“We’re keen to see a national plan that sets out a clear escalation pathway, including what further actions may be taken if the conflict continues and conditions worsen,” he said.

He said the state government is working on a “contingency plan” to address the escalating fuel crisis across the state.

The Premier will join other state leaders at today’s emergency national cabinet meeting to respond to supply and distribution issues caused by the war in Iran.

“It’s quite unprecedented to have this situation where you’ve got such a constraint on international supplies, but I’m not going into detail right now,” Mr Minns said.

With uncertainty surrounding the Strait of Hormuz connection in Iran – which sees around 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas pass through on tanker ships – the premier said “if it continues to stay closed, we will have to further measures as we go along”.

“Any government would make that decision in those circumstances – whether in the national cabinet today or by the government itself to get us around the table to prepare for any event.”

Extracted in full from:  https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/chris-bowen-claims-no-shortage-as-servos-shut-across-nsw-pm-to-announce-fuel-distribution-plan/news-story/3ebe01b4a1c3dbada25c051c68cfd13f