Australia’s energy and climate change minister, Chris Bowen, said Saturday the country did not “need or want Russian fuel.” He rejected a diesel supply deal US president Donald Trump announced after a discussion with Vladimir Putin. Bowen said Russia “should not be rewarded for their illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.”
Trump announced on social media Saturday morning Australian time that Russia had agreed to immediately supply “300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel” to US and global markets. He said another 500,000 tons would follow in November, with supplies later rising to 3m tons depending on “the condition of [Russia's] diesel refineries.” The agreement leaves governments negotiating with Russia to decide where fuel goes, while businesses and consumers bear the costs of shortages and high prices.
Who Sets the Terms
Trump faces political pressure over high diesel prices in the US ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Democrats and some Republicans criticized the deal. The promised fuel supply now sits alongside an election campaign, but the article describes no change to the political or economic arrangements that determine who negotiates access to fuel.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the agreement “plays into Russia's hands – allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world”. He laid out the consequences he sees in a state-to-state fuel deal. The announced supply figures still depend on the condition of Russia’s diesel refineries.
Bowen spoke at a regular Saturday morning press conference updating Australians on fuel reserves. He said Australia had arrangements with trading partners “as best as we possibly can” to keep Russian fuel from flowing into the country. “What the United States does is a matter for them. But we won't be changing our approach,” he said, adding that Australia maintained “the very, very firm view that Russia should not be rewarded” through arrangements made because of the Middle East crisis.
Shortages, Prices and Political Pressure
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she wanted more oil supplied and didn't rule out Australia making a similar deal. Asked if she would support the same action as Trump, she said countries should work together if they could get the resources they needed. She also warned of “countries come to an absolute standstill, businesses shutting down, the cost to the consumer”. Hanson didn't answer a follow-up question about whether that should specifically include Russian oil.
At the CPAC convention in Brisbane, Hanson called for Australia to “produce our own fuel as the world becomes more dangerous”. She put domestic production forward as a response; the article reports no decision to adopt her proposal. The dispute over Russian fuel remains between political leaders weighing supply against their stated positions on the invasion of Ukraine.
Bowen said Australia had 43 days’ worth of petrol and 31 days’ worth of diesel, consistent with recent updates. “We have 51 ships on the way to Australia with fuel, and we have 3.2bn litres of the various types of fuel locked in and contracted to be delivered over the next four weeks,” he said.
A Supply Chain Managed From Above
Uncertainty remained in the Middle East amid Trump’s protracted war with Iran. Trump had promised that week not to launch more attacks on Iran before next month’s midterm elections. Bowen said the international situation remained difficult, but Australia would keep working with trading partners in south-east Asia and beyond, including India and Saudi Arabia, as well as domestic refiners, to ensure they were working “at full pelt.”
Bowen said he had met senior Saudi Arabian representatives in Fiji while preparing for the UN climate talks in Turkey. He said attacks in Saudi Arabia continued, but he had confidence the Saudi Arabian government was taking steps to keep fuel flowing. He also said he remained in regular contact with the chief executives of Australia’s domestic refiners. In Bowen’s account, fuel security depends on contracted deliveries, international partners, government decisions and refinery executives. No community-led response or mutual-aid effort appeared in the account.