Independent petrol stations running dry as suppliers cut off fuel to regional Australia

Independent petrol stations in regional Australia have been hit by a devastating fuel shortage after widespread panic buying triggered major oil companies to cut supply.

Transwest Fuels co-owner Sam Clifton said his bowsers around regional New South Wales and Queensland are running dry following an "unprecedented collapse in supply availability".

Clifton warned some regional independent chains like Transwest are either "completely out of fuel" or running out fast as national wholesalers ration fuel and funnel it into metro areas.

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United Petroleum confirmed it has suspended normal allocations to distributors as Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz impacts global oil supply.

Clifton claimed it was "disgraceful" that rural communities have been the first to be cut off.

"In Tamworth, we're completely out of unleaded and E95," Clifton told Nine.com.au.

"The major retailers are getting preferential treatment by the big players."

Transwest Fuels still has some supply of diesel but it won't last long, Clifton said.

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He said local farmers who bulk buy fuel for tractors have been hit the hardest by the shortage.

"Animals will start dying, crops are going to suffer," Clifton added.

"One farmer I spoke to had just 1000 litres left."

The opposition has written to the government for help monitoring prices for farmers.

"Australians should understand that while they can go to the servo and fill up, our farmers aren't getting their supplies," Nationals Leader David Littleproud said yesterday.

"If they run out, they can't produce your food and fibre."

Clifton called on the federal government to protect regional communities from more supply shortages by building refineries in rural areas.

Westlink Petroleum's Danny Kreitzer also told 2GB's Ben Fordham that the diminishing supply was getting "serious".

"We're getting about 45,000 litres a day out, which is probably 10 per cent of what we need."

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Drivers panic-buying fuel as prices surge above $2 per litre around the country has worsened the domestic pressure on petrol supply, motoring bosses said.

"What we are now seeing is some service stations running low on supply and that is because Australians are buying fuel at a far greater rate than they normally would," NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said.

Khoury said he has also heard "troubling" reports of people trying to stockpile fuel at home.

"Which, apart from not making an economic sense, is also extremely dangerous," Khoury said.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen last week confirmed that Australia had 34 days of diesel, 32 days of jet fuel and 36 days of petrol available.

Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite told Sky News today that this was the "normal" reserve capacity, even without a conflict threatening global oil supply.

"We've got well over a month's worth of diesel and unleaded petrol," Thistlethwaite said.

"The majority of our fuel doesn't actually come through the Strait of Hormuz.

"It comes from other means and most of that is still getting to Australia."

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