00:02One servo in town and it's out of fuel.
00:05This happened over a couple of days, so people aren't prepared.
00:11With shortfalls across regional Australia driven by a spike in demand,
00:16farmers are travelling extra distances to secure crucial supplies.
00:21We ran out of diesel on Monday and on Wednesday we ran out of petrol.
00:24So we've had no delivery since.
00:26The situation prompting a second government intervention in as many days.
00:31Despite the fact that Australia's fuel has been arriving and that our minimum stock obligations are in good shape,
00:37of course we have continued to see unacceptable impacts, particularly in regional Australia.
00:41By law, Australia's refineries and importers must keep a certain amount of fuel in storage.
00:47From today, they've been given the green light to release a fifth of their stocks.
00:51500 million litres of diesel, or five days worth, and 300 million litres of petrol, enough for six days.
00:59Less fuel in storage, more in the pump, mainly in regional areas.
01:04This will enable the fuel companies to more flexibly manage their supply chain.
01:09It's on top of yesterday's directive to lower fuel standards, allowing an extra two days worth of petrol to flow
01:16from Brisbane's Ampole refinery.
01:18I hope now the government has woken up that this is a serious issue.
01:22The only party offering an alternative solution, One Nation.
01:26If it requires rationing in the cities, we're not saying you can't have fuel, but you have to limit it,
01:31because we have to keep these semi-trailers moving.
01:33If you want to advocate petrol rationing, you're welcome to do that. That is not my intention.
01:38The problem for Australia is we import about 90% of our liquid fuels.
01:43It comes from refineries in Asia, which rely on oil from the Middle East.
01:48Reports are starting to emerge that some countries are looking at holding back stock destined for export.
01:55China, Australia's biggest supplier of jet fuel, considering cancelling cargoes already under contract.
02:03If you are getting close to Yokohani, you'll find it in China.
02:04If someone has to purchase a few years, they don't have to buy a plane in the US.
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