Major sources of Australian oil including Malaysia and South Korea could cut their exports to prioritise local fuel needs, energy experts have warned, as the energy minister, Chris Bowen, concedes some service stations are running out of stock and governments have “powers” to ration petrol if supplies are more severely disrupted.
Bowen shrugged off reports in the Australian Financial Review on Thursday that the Malaysian embassy said the country’s government would “prioritise our own needs, and only then we can look at whatever demand that we receive from overseas”. Malaysia is Australia’s top source of crude oil.
