Australia’s treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has warned that fuel prices may not fall until the end of the decade. He made the comments at the ‘Citi A50 Australian Economic Forum’, an invite-only event for leaders from government, business, and investment firms.
Chalmers noted that oil prices have been above $100 a barrel for most of the last six weeks, reaching $110 this week, and futures are not expecting a return to pre-conflict prices until 2030.
The Minister for Energy, Chris Bowen, agreed with the Treasurer, stating that damage to oil infrastructure could affect prices beyond the end of the war in the Middle East. However, Bowen believes that fuel prices will eventually return to normal.
Bowen said, “The sooner the war finishes, the better, and then it would take some time to recover, and there’ll be impacts for some time to come,” during his weekly update on Australia’s fuel supplies.
Bowen reported that Australia has 39 days’ worth of petrol, 31 days’ worth of diesel, and 28 days’ worth of jet fuel. He also mentioned that 45 ships are on the way to Australia with fuel, and three billion litres of fuel are locked in for delivery over the next four weeks.
Despite the ongoing international uncertainty, Bowen stated that Australia’s fuel security remains solid. The rise in fuel prices has been a boon for electric vehicle sellers, with sales of new electric vehicles now overtaking petrol-only cars for two consecutive months.
Various senior ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, have generally dampened expectations for future fuel price relief, but have not ruled anything out.
