In August 2026, the Australian Government released a consultation paper on its fuel security and resilience package, which comprises:
- a government-controlled 1 billion litre strategic fuel reserve, focused on diesel and jet fuel
- increasing the Minimum Stockholding Obligation (MSO) by 10 days for each of diesel, petrol and jet fuel, and
- supporting Australia’s two refineries to continue operating.
The ATA submission argues that these measures must not be considered an end point. Australia must work toward meeting the IEA requirement that we hold an emergency reserve equivalent to 90 days of net fuel imports.
The land and construction capacity constraints at major storage sites should be addressed with a complementary focus on supporting smaller storage locations across the fuel supply chain in regional Australia, including storage at road transport businesses.
The Livestock, Bulk and Rural Carriers Association has made a separate submission that goes into detail about how regional storage could be planned, managed and funded.