Australia urges weekend motorists to refuel in cities
Australian energy minister Chris Bowen today urged motorists getting away for a long weekend during the Easter holiday to fill up in cities because most of the nation’s fuel shortages are in rural areas.
Among 2,400 gas stations in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, 182 had run out of diesel by Friday.
In Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, 76 gas stations were out of diesel. In the remaining states ranked by the most populous first, Queensland had 75 stations without diesel, Western Australia had 37, South Australia had 28 and in Tasmania there were seven.
“For those Australians planning a road trip this weekend, given our shortages are predominantly in rural and regional Australia, it makes sense to fill up in the city to help the country if you can,” Bowen said in Sydney.
The government, which blamed regional shortages on panic buying and distribution problems, is concentrating on delivering fuel to farmers for planting crops.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 07:10
Oil prices surge to $111 a barrel
Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war but the Asian markets that were open today rose moderately in cautious trading, while others were closed for the Good Friday holidays.
Benchmark US crude rose 11.4 per cent to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8 per cent to $109.03 per barrel.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar3 April 2026 07:00
