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West Australian motorists are being warned that most branded metropolitan fuel stations will be hiking their diesel price on Tuesday.
According to the WA Government service’s website FuelWatch, Tuesday’s average metro diesel price will jump to 226.2 cents per litre.
The site claims that the increase follows diesel hikes over the last five days by most of the major brands.
WA Nationals leader Shane Love said recent supply disruptions had already demonstrated how vulnerable the state was to fuel shortages, despite government assurances about stockpiles as concerns grow amid the unfolding hostilities in the Middle East.
“Western Australia’s economy relies heavily on secure fuel supplies, particularly for our mining and resources sector, transport, and regional communities,” Love said.
“Yet we have seen situations where supply chains have been disrupted and key industries have already struggled to access fuel. That should be setting off alarm bells in government.”
However, during a press conference on Monday morning, Premier Roger Cook said there was no structural reason why stations should be hiking up the price of fuel.
“If fuel companies are gouging by virtue of increasing their prices when they know there’s no constraints on supply chains, well then they’ve just got to stop it,” he said.
“I urge every Western Australian to go into the FuelWatch site, make sure you look at where and how they can purchase the cheapest fuel possible, and ignore those fuel stations that are trying to take advantage of people’s anxieties and fears.”
According to FuelWatch, the price of diesel has steadily increased since March 3, when the average cost sat at less than 185¢ per litre.
The latest data shows the average price has now surged to more than 215c per litre, and the site is predicting a bigger spike on Tuesday.
The average price for unleaded petrol has also increased over the past five days, jumping to more than 190¢ per litre.
Love urged the government to develop a clear plan to safeguard fuel supplies for the state’s critical industries and communities.
“Fuel security is not something you can take for granted in a state as large and remote as Western Australia,” he said.
“What we are seeing right now is a failure to plan and a failure to recognise the strategic importance of fuel to our economy and way of life.”
Cook said he had raised the issue of fuel supply at a state emergency cabinet committee on Friday in response to the current climate in the Middle East.
“One of the items on the agenda was a report from the minister for energy on fuel supplies, a very clear indication that there’s no immediate threat to Western Australian fuel supply chains,” he said.
“Therefore there’s no reason why there should be an immediate increase in terms of fuel prices.
“The key supply chain is obviously the connection with our main suppliers around Singapore, Japan and other wholesalers into the Western Australian market and the Australian market.
“Obviously, the supply constraint is the supply of crude oil to those refineries in the first instance. But at this stage, there’s nothing to indicate that there’s any constraints on Western Australia’s fuel supply.”
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