Australia had 31 days’ worth of diesel in reserve as energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen rejected Russian fuel after Donald Trump announced a supply agreement with Russia. Bowen said Australia did not “need or want Russian fuel” and wouldn’t change its approach to dealing with the crisis.
Australia’s fuel position
Bowen shared the figures at a regular Saturday morning press conference on the country’s fuel reserves. Australia had 43 days’ worth of petrol and 31 days’ worth of diesel, he said, in line with recent updates. He also said 51 ships were heading to Australia with fuel and that companies had locked in and contracted 3.2 billion litres of various types of fuel for delivery over the next four weeks.
“We do not want Vladimir Putin to benefit from this war in the Middle East,” Bowen said. He said Australia had made arrangements with trading partners “as best as we possibly can” to ensure Russian fuel didn’t flow to Australia. “What the United States does is a matter for them. But we won't be changing our approach,” he said.
On Saturday morning Australian time, Trump said on social media that Russia had agreed to supply 300,000 tons of diesel immediately after what he called a “highly successful discussion” with Vladimir Putin. Trump said another 500,000 tons would follow in November, with supply later rising to 3 million tons depending on the condition of Russia’s diesel refineries.
Bowen said Australia would maintain “the very, very firm view that Russia should not be rewarded for their illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine by any arrangements put in place as a result of the Middle East crisis.” He added that other countries could set their own policies.
Different approaches to supply
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said she wanted more oil supplied and didn’t rule out backing a similar arrangement for Australia. Asked whether she would support Australia taking the same action as Trump, Hanson said countries should work together if resources were available to address shortages.
“If it's going to get supplied all throughout the world, because a lot of countries are suffering from this lack of oil, I think it's important to work with countries, if we can have the resources that we need,” she said at a press conference on the sidelines of the CPAC convention in Brisbane. Hanson didn’t answer a follow-up question about whether that should specifically include Russian oil.
She said countries should weigh the effects of businesses shutting down and costs to consumers. In her CPAC speech, Hanson called for Australia to “produce our own fuel as the world becomes more dangerous.”
Pressure over the international crisis
Democrats and some Republicans criticized Trump’s agreement. High diesel prices in the United States have put Trump under political pressure ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the deal “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”.
Uncertainty persisted in the Middle East amid Trump’s protracted war with Iran. That week, he had promised not to launch more attacks on Iran before the midterm elections.
Bowen called the international situation difficult. During a meeting in Fiji to prepare for UN climate talks in Turkey, he met senior Saudi Arabian representatives. Australia would keep working with trading partners in south-east Asia and beyond, including India and Saudi Arabia, and with domestic refiners to keep them working “at full pelt,” he said. Bowen said he remained in regular contact with the chief executives of Australia’s domestic refiners.