WITH rising concerns about fuel availability, a local supplier has urged people to think before they panic buy.<\/p>\n
Mortimer Petroleum owner David Mortimer said rising coverage of changes in fuel prices and conflict in the Middle East was causing buyers to overstock without need, affecting supply.<\/p>\n
“There’s enough fuel around for people to undertake their normal use,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Once people start to panic, suddenly they need more than what they’ve needed before.<\/p>\n
“You’ve got to try to talk them out of it. I have fuel customers, farmer customers, who barely use fuel at all and now they’re all panicking.”<\/p>\n
One of Mortimer Petroleum’s petrol stations is in Drysdale and the company also supplies fuel to customers across regional Victoria.<\/p>\n
Mortimer estimated 80 per cent of his business was done through wholesale, supplying farmers and businesses.<\/p>\n
Under the existing fuel quotas, he has been able to continue to serve his customers as normal, just sneaking through before they reset on a Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Mortimer said the combination of quotas and rising prices was unusual.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been under quotas plenty of times [in the] last 40 years, but we never had rising prices at the same time,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve have once before where the prices have been smashed and gone through the roof like this, but never have you been short of fuel.”<\/p>\n
Mortimer said selling quotas would not be lifted for some time as supplies would need to be replenished.<\/p>\n
As for customers concerned about the prices at the pump, Mortimer said finding the right spot was essential.<\/p>\n
Keeping prices competitive, maintaining a business and not running out of fuel is a tricky problem to balance.<\/p>\n
“You’d like to keep the price down but then you’d run out of fuel,” Mortimer said.<\/p>\n
Last week, the federal government announced an easing on fuel regulations to allow for “dirty” fuel to be sold domestically.<\/p>\n
The fuel contains higher sulphur levels than the fuel available until now, but customers have been assured their car engines should be fine.<\/p>\n
Legislation only came into effect in late 2025 to remove the “dirty” fuel from the market, meaning most cars had been running on it for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WITH rising concerns about fuel availability, a local supplier has urged people to think before they panic buy. Mortimer Petroleum owner David Mortimer said rising coverage of changes in fuel prices and conflict in the Middle East was causing buyers to overstock without need, affecting supply. “There’s enough fuel around for people to undertake their […]<\/p>\n