Weekly fuel update: Slight drop in Australian fuel stock as mainstream media discovered stranded tankers offshore and Energy Minister happy about it at the National Press Club
This week’s Saturday fuel update has to be seen in the context of several media reports during the first week of August on stranded tankers, a problem already mentioned in ….
23/6/26
The Odyssey of Panamax tanker GRAND WINNER 5 waiting for 3 weeks offshore Sydney
https://crudeoilpeak.info/the-odyssey-of-panamax-tanker-grand-winner-5-waiting-for-3-weeks-offshore-sydney
….as well as monitored here
https://crudeoilpeak.info/tankers-arriving-and-departing-in-sydney
This was finally discovered by the mainstream media. One such article was from the AFR
4/8/26
Labor’s plans to source more fuel leaves shipments stranded at sea
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan to subsidise shiploads of extra fuel following the outbreak of war in the Middle East has almost ground to a halt because a supply glut has forced vessels carrying taxpayer-funded diesel to park off the coast for months while they wait for storage to become available.
https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/labor-s-plans-to-find-more-fuel-leaves-shipments-stranded-at-sea-20260802-p60krh
A day later Energy Minister Bowen had to respond during a National Press Club event after he was asked by Caitlyn Rintoul from the West Australian about the appointment of the Fuel Supply Taskforce coordinator Anthea Harris and whether he has “confidence in preventing fuel distribution bottlenecks in the future particularly in industries like mining, transport and agriculture”
5/8/26
IN FULL: Chris Bowen speaks about Australia’s energy future at National Press Club ABC NEWS
Bowen: I see some criticism of the government today saying we have too much fuel in Australia because of our policies. I will take that criticism. I will own that criticism in the light of what we’ve been dealing with in the last few months. You know if you’d said to me on the 28th of February, you know, in a few months’ time you’ll be criticized for bringing too much fuel into Australia. That’s okay because the policies have worked and that’s not been easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6ngbNfcZ-w
Given that Energy Minister was grilled at the NPC with many questions it is understandable that he did one of the shortest presentations in front of his electoral office
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Fig 1: Stock held by fuel went down by 420 ML (-6%) from the recent peak the Minister was so proud of
Comment: that’s 3,337 Ml, down 303 ML from last week (-8%)
Fig 2: Diesel stock dropped by 8% compared to the previous week
364 ML above 3 March level
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Fig 3: Jet fuel stock held up and down in last 6 weeks
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Fig 4: Tankers on the way have dropped now for 3 weeks
The grey columns depict the cumulative number of ships arrived in each calendar month. July is estimated
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Fig 5: Forward orders are downhill
Comment: Again the public is not being told how much diesel we can expect in the next 4 weeks.
This lack of detail on diesel is the more surprising as at the National Press Club James Mayger from Bloomberg asked the Minister about what plans the government has to encourage farmers, businesses, trucking companies, mining companies to reduce diesel usage. He referred to petrol consumption going down slowly but diesel consumption growing relentlessly (according to the Australian Petroleum Statistics):
Fig 6: Diesel sales July 2010 – May 2026
In his answer, the Minister cherry-picked the heavy industry and referred to the safeguard reform which is expected to save 18 billion litres of diesel between now and 2035, or over 190 days of diesel supply (190 of 3,650=> 5%!). The volume saved is from
Safeguard Mechanism Review Consultation Paper August 2026
“Facilities are expected to save 18 billion litres of diesel” p1
This review paper does not contain any calculations but in turn refers to Fig 12 in
Australia’s emissions projections 2025 November 2025
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-emissions-projections-2025.pdf
Fig 12 shows the change in fuel use across Safeguard facilities due to on-site abatement action. Diesel is projected to be reduced linearly to 150 PJ in 2035. That apparently converts to 18 bn liters, depending on gravities. And while looking at this document you find table 20:
Fig 7: Transport emissions
Transport emissions (and therefore diesel consumption) from trucks are projected to increase, albeit only at 10% over 10 years. Apparently it is assumed that 20% of light commercial vehicles (which also run on diesel) are replaced by battery -electric vans/light trucks. And domestic aviation should also be reduced by 10%. Strange the Climate Change Minister is happy with the opening of the 2nd Sydney Airport.
Appendix
Transcript (extract related to fuel only)
Press conference, Fairfield West, New South Wales
8 August 2026
MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY, CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks for coming everyone. Now, since I began these Saturday press conferences over five months ago, two things have remained consistent. The international system has been volatile and unpredictable, and Australia’s fuel security has remained stable and solid. And that situation remains. Government and industry working together, hand-in-glove, to ensure fuel security for Australians. Today, I can update that Australia has 42 days worth of petrol, 36 days worth of diesel, 34 days worth of jet fuel. Total stock holdings in Australia at just over 6 billion litres, 42 ships on the way to Australia with fuel, and 3 billion litres locked in to be delivered over the next four weeks. All these figures broadly consistent with previous updates. Figures moving around just a little bit, but broadly consistent and providing Australians with the reassurance that fuel security in Australia remains solid, remains strong. Others said shortages were inevitable. Others said rationing was inevitable. That’s what the Liberals and the Nationals said. One Nation called for rationing. We had the view that a calmer, more sensible approach would ensure fuel security for Australians. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing for the last five months, and that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do for however long this international crisis continues.
Happy to take questions, I think the questions today are all on the phone.
JOURNALIST: Hello, Amanda Copp from Nine here. Just on the fuel issue, you talk a lot up there about fuel security, but I think most households would be looking at fuel prices, that’s jumped up to over $2 a litre which is kind of where we were before- when this crisis first began anyways. So what are you going to do to make sure people can actually afford petrol at the pump?
MINISTER BOWEN: Well Amanda, one slight disagreement with you. Yes, of course petrol is more expensive than we’d like it to be because of the international crisis, but prices are about 50 cents less now than at the time that the Government took the decision to half fuel excise. And that remains the case even after the fuel excise has returned to normal levels over the last week. So we made it clear that this relief was vital, but temporary, to ensure Australians will get through the worst of the international fuel crisis when it comes to fuel prices. Our other work on cost of living relief continues with enormous focus from the Government. Tax cut for every Australian on the July 1. Cheaper medicines, cheaper prescriptions, free TAFE, paid prac, Cheaper Home Batteries. All these policies provide real cost of living relief to Australians across the board every single day, and we’ll continue to focus very strongly on cost of living relief.
……
JOURNALIST: And Minister, one more as a Sydney MP, is the Government at all concerned about the level of delays at Sydney Airport? Airlines for Australia and New Zealand say it understands that Airservices Australia is struggling with staff and that this is the third day in a row there have been challenges. Are you aware of that?
MINISTER BOWEN: I’ve seen some reports, but I’m not aware of any particular detail. Obviously, I’m sure Sydney Airport’s doing their best to manage the situation. And obviously, congestion will be further relieved with the opening of Western Sydney Airport in just a few weeks’ time.
https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/bowen/transcripts/press-conference-fairfield-west-new-south-wales-7
