Australia on Brink of Disaster: Just 24 Days of Diesel Left as Fuel Crisis Deepens
- Australia’s diesel supply is critically low, with just 24 days’ worth of fuel left in the country
- Former independent senator Rex Patrick warns of ‘real trouble’ if a conflict disrupts fuel supplies, leaving supermarkets and hospitals at risk
- Australia’s oil supply level is also reaching near record lows, with only 48 days left of net oil imports as of July
Australia is teetering on the edge of a fuel crisis, with alarming new figures revealing the country has just 24 days’ worth of diesel supply left. The shocking revelation has sparked fears that supermarkets could be stripped bare and hospitals shut down within days if the situation is not addressed.
Former independent senator Rex Patrick sounded the alarm, warning that Australia is in “real trouble” if a conflict were to disrupt fuel supplies. “If there’s a conflict, and it doesn’t have to be a conflict with Australia, but something that disrupts our fuel supplies coming from the Strait of Hormuz or Singapore, we’re in real trouble,” he said on Sky News.
Patrick’s concerns are rooted in the fact that Australia relies heavily on imports of petroleum from countries like Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. The country’s two remaining refineries are struggling to keep up with demand, leaving Australia vulnerable to supply disruptions.
The situation is dire, with Patrick warning that supermarkets and hospitals are at risk of running out of essential supplies. “Most of our country relies on diesel fuel – that’s what keeps all the trucks rolling, the trains rolling, that keep all the supplies coming to us,” he explained. “Twenty-four days of diesel is simply not enough.”
Australia’s oil supply level is also reaching near record lows, with only 48 days left of net oil imports as of July. This is far short of the 90-day requirement under the International Energy Agency treaty, which Australia has not met since 2012.
Despite the warning signs, a spokesman for Chris Bowen, the minister for Climate Change and Energy, claimed that Australia is “fuel secure”. However, Patrick argued that the government is neglecting the fuel issue while spending hundreds of billions on nuclear-powered submarines.
“It’s really the neglect of successive governments to deal with what is a national security issue,” Patrick said. “We’re willing to spend hundreds of billions on submarines, but we’re not willing to address the fuel issue.”