HVIA attended the eighth Transport Industry Fuel Security Briefing hosted this week by Transport and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, which heard all transport modes (road, rail, maritime and aviation) now had the benefit of oversight of supply well into June.
At what appeared among the calmest meetings held to date, the Minister advised that National Cabinet met on April 23 and confirmed Australia would remain at Level 2 of the National Fuel Security Plan for the foreseeable future.
Supply
► Of the 8,300 retail sites across the country, the Australian Institute of Petroleum has done further research and believes many of the sites that are suffering shortages either do not count refuelling as their core business or have made a deliberate decision to not supply at this time.
► On April 24, a further 100 million litres of diesel was secured through a deal between Export Finance Australia and Ampol (and subsequent to the meeting, the Minister announced it has secured two shipments carrying 100 million litres of jet fuel and another shipment of 50 million litres of diesel).
► There was some concern mooted given fuel demand in Europe is about to spike for their summer months of June, July and August.
► The latest Minimum Stockholding Obligation (MSO) data, updated Sunday, April 26, showed that as at May 21, reserves sat at 44 days for petrol (vs 46 days previously), 30 days for jet fuel (unchanged) and 33 days for diesel (vs 31 days previously).
Price
► Retail prices for diesel continue to stabilise with another small decrease this week. Australian Institute of Petroleum data shows the terminal gate price for diesel was in the $2.27-2.28 a litre range across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as at Friday, May 1; while retail prices averaged $2.75 nationally in the week ending Sunday, April 26, down 33.9 cents on the previous corresponding period.
► The Government was at pains, though, to advise that prices would remain high for a significant period of time [HVIA’s interpretation of this is well into 2027].
Industry Support
► The Minister reported that the Economic Resilience Program measures have proven popular. A briefing will be received shortly on the overall applications and support being provided.
► HVIA continued to raise the issue of extending the eligibility of the scheme to ensure the ANSZIC codes used by HVIA members were included.