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Australia will be required to hold at least 50 days of jet fuel under new measures announced by the federal government.
Under the $10 billion Australian Fuel Security and Resilience package, unveiled for next week’s budget, $3.2 billion will be used to establish a government-owned Australian Fuel Security Reserve of around a billion litres to bolster long-term supply and storage of jet fuel and diesel.
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“Australia is actually in a minority of countries in the International Energy Agency who don’t have a government-owned fuel reserve,” said Energy Minister Chris Bowen at a press conference.
“We will now have a government-owned fuel reserve of around a billion litres to add to those minimum stocks that the private sector must hold, particularly focused on diesel and jet fuel, where we do need to ensure greater domestic capacity and supply in the worst of circumstances.
“This is a big change in our approach as a country and a good one, building on the increase in the Minimum Stock Obligations that we’re requiring the private sector to hold 10 days and adding more so that we would have 50 days’ worth of diesel and 50 days’ worth of jet fuel, which is an appropriate level.”
The move has been welcomed by industry, with Australian Airports Association (AAA) chief executive Simon Westaway saying the Iran war shows the importance of improving Australia’s fuel resilience and calling the plan “an important step towards strengthening fuel supplies and maintaining confidence in Australia’s aviation sector”.
“Increasing Australia’s minimum stockholding of jet fuel will help ensure future supply disruptions can be better managed, while supporting continued connectivity for communities, tourism and business,” he said.
“The AAA also strongly supports the development of a domestic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry, and this crisis has highlighted the broader economic and security benefits SAF could deliver for Australia.”
According to Westaway, building sovereign SAF capability is “not only an emissions reduction opportunity, but also an important resilience and economic security measure for Australia.”
“A domestic SAF industry has the potential to improve fuel resilience, create jobs and provide airlines with more sustainable fuel options,” he said.
“Airports are critical partners in this transition and will play an important role in enabling future SAF infrastructure and supply capabilities.”
The government earlier this month announced it had secured an extra 100 million litres of jet fuel on top of existing supplies.
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