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Energy Minister Chris Bowen says 519 million litres of petrol and diesel is now flowing from Australia's strategic reserve, following reports of regional towns running dry at the bowser.
"On the condition that those companies that are required under law to hold the reserves in Australia work with the government to ensure the flow of that petrol and diesel in particular to the regional areas that are experiencing particular shortages."
The announcement on Thursday came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese convened a meeting of National Cabinet.
He's appointed former energy regulator Anthea Harris to lead a new taskforce aimed at managing supply shocks caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
"To support coordination across governments and sectors, and there will be agreement from every state and territory who will appoint someone to work with Ms Harris, to make sure that we maximise the coordinated effort during this time."
But he continues to maintain any shortages are caused by a surge in demand - driven by consumer stockpiling, rather than a lack of supply.
"I want to assure Australians at this time that Australia is well prepared. Our fuel supply is currently secure. However, I want us to be over prepared. I understand there are Australians in some parts of our nation that are really worried as they watch what is unfolding in the Middle East, and that is understandable, but we're doing all that we can to secure our fuel our fuel supply, and to get it to the places that need it."
The government says fuel deliveries are still arriving into Australia as expected, and Mr Albanese has again urged consumers not to buy more than they need.
That hasn't stopped the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission from launching an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive conduct by four major fuel suppliers.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomes the move, in a speech where he warns a prolonged Middle East conflict could send inflation past five per cent.
"The war in the Middle East is obviously the most pressing problem confronting the global economy. But my message today is that it reinforces, rather than replaces, the three core challenges which are shaping the budget in May. And here, I want to be really blunt. Before this war, inflation was already too high. Productivity growth had been too weak for two decades."
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says the government has been too slow to act.
"They've been putting bandaids on bullet wounds for four years now."
He says the government should take a more active role.
"Whether they're retailers or distributors the government needs to lean on them, and make sure the fuel is getting to the customers, getting to those hard working farmers, getting to those truckies, and that's not what the government has done."
The Prime Minister is defending the government, citing the release of strategic reserves, and a temporary lowering of fuel standards to keep more supply within the Australian market.
"We're cracking down on petrol companies engaging in price gouging. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is engaging key international counterparts to help ensure the continued flow of fuel and diesel shipments to Australia from our trading partners, and I've been engaged in that process as well. My government will be announcing more measures to prepare the nation for supply chain challenges over coming days, and weeks."
Mr Albanese also expresses his concern at escalating attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East.
Overnight, Israel bombed the Iranian facilities linked to the largest gas field in the world, which is shared with Qatar.
Iran has retaliated by striking energy infrastructure in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
It's seen as a major escalation that could make global energy shocks worse.
"The conflict is an unprecedented shock to global energy markets. The International Energy Agency has called it the biggest in history."
The day did bring some good news, though, with the possibility of lower electricity bills on the horizon.
"At this point we are cautious, but calm."
Australian Energy Regulator Chair Clare Savage released the draft market offer on Thursday.
"There's a range of factors bringing down prices in this draft decision. So we've seen much lower wholesale electricity costs over the last 12 months, much less volatility in our markets as we've had really good output from wind and solar and storage for battery capacity. We've also seen better performance from coal plants, and this has led to lower forward contract electricity prices, and they're flowing through to power prices right now."
Prices for much of the east coast could fall by up to 10 per cent for households, and 21 per cent for businesses.
But like so many markets, power prices may not be immune to the war in the Middle East.
"Australia's power market is still exposed to international coal and gas prices, so we could see increases moving forward as a result of that conflict."
