Australia to establish 1 billion-litre national fuel stockpile

Australia will establish a national fuel stockpile of one billion litres to shield the nation from an energy crisis triggered by war in the Middle East, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday.

Albanese said the government-owned reserve would bolster long-term supplies of diesel and aviation fuel.

"Our number one priority remains shielding Australia from the worst effects of this crisis," Albanese told reporters.

The measures would be further detailed next week when Australia unveils its yearly government budget. 

Australia was one of the few members of the International Energy Agency that did not have a national reserve, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said.  

"We have been looking at what we need to do to better prepare Australia for future shocks," he told reporters. 

"We know the international environment is getting more unstable, not less."

Geographically isolated and with only two oil refineries, Australia is heavily exposed to disruptions in global fuel supply.

Like most nations in Asia and the South Pacific, Australia is heavily reliant on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which at one point carried one-fifth of the world's oil and gas.

Shipping traffic through the vital waterway has all-but-ceased since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.