In brief
- Energy Minister Chris Bowen has said Australia's fuel supply "remains strong" and more ships were on their way.
- He said Easter travellers should not cancel their plans but only use the fuel they needed.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has said Australia's fuel supply "remains strong" and more petrol is getting to service stations across the country.
Providing a weekly update on fuel supply on Saturday, Bowen said Australia had about 39 days' worth of petrol, 29 days of diesel, and 30 days of jet fuel in reserve.
He said the number of petrol stations with a shortage of fuel was declining and efforts to replenish supplies were ongoing, with 50 shipments on their way to Australia.
There had been six cancelled orders but they had been replaced by new orders, he added.
"The total number of service stations without diesel in Australia, which is where the main pressure has been, is 312 out of the around 8,000 service stations," he told reporters.
"Now that does not mean that there is not still a lot more work to do, so that figure comes down to zero.
"But industry and government have been working closely together to ensure that we are filling those gaps, which are being caused by the very big increase in demand."
He provided updated figures on diesel shortages across the states.
- NSW: 150 stations are without diesel, down 32 from Friday. 36 total stock out, down 12
- VIC: 51 without diesel, down 23 . 30 without unleaded petrol
- QLD: 49 without diesel, down 7
- SA: 13 without diesel, down 15
- TAS: 8 without diesel
- NT: 5 without diesel
- ACT: 6 without diesel
Bowen encouraged Australians to stick to their Easter plans, but only to use the fuel they needed.
"Go see your family, go and take a break, but get no more fuel than you need," he said.
"If you're leaving the city to go to the bush, fill up in the city if you can ... because most of the outages we're seeing are in regional Australia, particularly on diesel."
Holidaymakers undeterred by petrol prices
NRMA, which owns about 50 holiday parks and resorts, said higher fuel prices had not deterred Easter holidaymakers.
"There have been some cancellations but not at the levels initially feared," the association's spokesperson Peter Khoury said.
"That's to be expected with record-high fuel prices."
A survey conducted in March by the motoring group found that nearly a quarter of drivers are combining trips to make the tank last a bit longer.
More than 40 per cent polled were also cutting back on driving by between 10 to 30 per cent.
Khoury said cautious consumer confidence was buoyed by the federal government assuring the public of its supply strategy.
"There's been more certainty around supply, the cut in the excise may have encouraged to people to get in the car and people have started to regulate their behaviour," he said.
Drivers will get an additional 5.7 cents a litre off their fuel until 30 June as part of a deal between federal and state governments to forgo some GST revenue, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Thursday.
The move follows a cut to the fuel excise, reducing wholesale petrol and diesel costs by around 26 cents a litre, for a total of 32 cents off.
— With additional reporting by Australian Associated Press
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