Australians have continued to panic buy petrol, emptying shelves of jerry cans to stockpile, despite experts’ calls for calm in the face of surging prices.
Drivers are rushing to petrol pumps, worried that prices will skyrocket as the Middle East conflict intensifies
Some have gone so far as to stockpile fuel by buying up jerry cans and filling them at petrol stations, with a photo showing an almost empty shelf at Bunnings.
A quick search on Bunnings, BCF and Supercheap Auto websites in Sydney found jerry cans were sold out in some stores.
Last week, one concerned motorist photographed a ute in Woonona, on the New South Wales south coast, with about 20 cans on the roof.
‘Well, petrol is the new toilet paper!’ the photographer wrote on social media, referencing how people bought up goods like the paper during the Covid pandemic.
MB Fund and MB Super chief strategist David Llewellyn-Smith warned Australia’s one-month fuel reserve will ‘disappear’ quickly if hoarding begins.
‘Indeed, if the war does not stop in the next fortnight, the local price of petrol could easily hit $10 per litre,’ he wrote for news.com.au on Tuesday.
Some have gone so far as to stockpile fuel by buying up jerry cans and filling them at petrol stations, with a photo showing an almost empty shelf at Bunnings
‘Worse, Canberra may be forced to nationalise all supplies to prioritise the distribution of food and critical products. A petrol lockdown, of sorts.
‘This is not a forecast. Mr Trump may pull out this afternoon. But it is a risk if Mr Trump gets this wrong.
‘Equally, the peak oil price in Australia could be $2.50 or $35. But every day that passes, the price risk increases exponentially.’
But chief economist at AMP, Shane Oliver, pointed out that, while a rise in fuel prices is to be expected, Mr Llewellyn-Smith’s broad-strokes approach was ‘over the top’.
‘That’s very unlikely,’ he told Daily Mail.
‘To get to $10 a litre, which is about $7.80 above current levels, world oil prices would have to rise by $US780 a barrel – taking them to $US870, which is a 13-fold rise from where they were before the war started.
‘Even in the 1970s oil crises, the rise was only three or four-fold. So while we could see more upside in petrol prices, that seems way over the top.’
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury told Daily Mail the rush for jerry cans is contributing to the furore around petrol prices – and an example of concerning behaviour.
One Aussie had managed to fill and stockpile about 20 cans of fuel, a photo revealed
Hardware stores in Sydney, including Bunnings, have run out of the fuel cans
‘People are panic buying fuel, which is then putting unnecessary pressure on our supply chain, and storing fuel at home, which is also a safety concern,’ he said.
‘We are hoping that people’s buying behaviour starts to normalise and this will reduce concerns on supply domestically.’
Mr Khoury added that broader challenges remain for Australia and other nations amid the Middle East conflict.
‘If the (fuel) prices fall again, what are Australians going to do?’ he said.
‘We need the situation in the Middle East to stabilise. And if it does, the expectation is things here will stabilise pretty quickly, in which case you’re going to have a whole bunch of people with excess fuel sitting around their houses.
‘If not stored properly, it can be very dangerous, obviously, because it’s so flammable – and we also don’t think it’s necessary.’
Daily Mail has contacted Super Retail Group, the parent company for BCF and Supercheap Auto, for comment on the low stock. Bunnings declined to comment on Tuesday.
But a store spokeswoman acknowledged on Monday that Bunnings has seen a rise in jerry can purchases.
There has been a ‘massive spike’ in demand for fuel at Australian petrol stations after air strikes on Iran by Israel and the United States cause global fuel prices to surge
‘We are seeing increased demand for fuel containers in our stores across the country,’ she told 7 News.
‘Our teams are working hard to ensure product is still available for our customers, with more coming to stores this week.’
Average prices of unleaded petrol have soared past $2 a litre in every capital city except Perth, with the consumer watchdog warning retailers against giving false or misleading reasons for price increases.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed that Australia had 32 days’ worth of diesel as of Tuesday morning.
He acknowledged there had been a ‘massive spike’ in demand, particularly in regional areas, but insisted domestic fuel stocks were as high as when the crisis began.
‘We have enough diesel in Australia for our needs for the foreseeable future, and there is absolutely no need for panic,’ Mr Bowen told reporters.
Refineries were meeting their contracted obligations but not able to facilitate extra orders because of demand-side pressure, he said.
Mr Bowen said the Albanese government wouldn’t hesitate to use the minimum stock obligation if the Middle East conflict threatened domestic fuel security.
