The Roundtable of more than 50 industry and government leaders met today, Monday, March 16 to discuss the fuel issues affecting Australia from the conflict in the Middle East.

The State Government’s Fuel Security Roundtable included Premier Chris Minns, ministers and leaders from transport and logistics, fuel, agriculture, local government, mining, unions and consumer protection groups.

While the Federal Government is responsible for Australia’s fuel supply and has advised that national fuel stocks remain secure, the Roundtable agreed to immediate actions by the State Government to address local distribution issues and minimise price impacts for consumers.

The average price of unleaded fuel across the state today [16 March 2026] was $223.5 per litre.

The Roundtable agreed to a number of immediate measures, including:

• Fuel suppliers to use the FuelCheck app to notify when fuel is unavailable, so people could identify nearby service stations where they can and can’t refuel.
• To use the State Government’s Energy and Utilities crisis team to allow the industry to focus on delivering fuel where it is most needed.

The Roundtable heard from NSW Farmer’s Federation, Country Mayors Association and other representatives about the particular challenges facing the bush.

The Roundtable was told that supply to ports, airports and major fuel suppliers remains strong. 

Concerns were raised around the supply of diesel to bulk fuel users and some petrol stations in the country.

The government agreed more conversations on regional issues would be discussed in the next fortnight to discuss fuel shortages, price rises and potential impacts on fertiliser for the upcoming winter sowing season, when fuel and fertiliser demand is highest.

For people looking to fill up their car, FuelCheck remains the best place to go, which provides real time information about price and availability. If prices at petrol stations differ from what is advertised on the app, consumers should report this to Fair Trading.

Concerns around panic buying leading to unsafe storage of excess fuels were also raised.  Safe work NSW has strict guidance on managing flammable and combustible substances, including that stocks must be kept in the lowest practical quantity in the workplace.

The Fuel Security Roundtable plans to set up a fuel security crisis team and to run an incident room to track and monitor data. They will also map current fuel storage facilities. 

“While global fuel supply challenges are beyond our control, there are practical things we can do here in NSW to ensure fuel is being distributed where it’s needed most, particularly in regional communities,” Mr Minns said.

Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe said she appreciated it was a stressful time for everyone.

“Communities need to look out for each other. It’s important that people don’t buy more fuel at the bowser than they need,” she said.

“While fuel continues to arrive to Australia and we have petrol availability, we acknowledge some regional businesses and petrol stations are running short.

“Increased demand and higher prices are challenging distribution supply chains but there is no need to buy more fuel than you usually would.

Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said regional communities were often the first to feel the impacts when fuel supply is disrupted.

Most of the information in this report was provided by the NSW Government.

This article appeared on indyNR.com on 16 March 2026.