The only thing we have to panic about is panic itself.
That’s the verdict from the prime minister and the service stations on the possibility of a petrol crisis.
We have enough fuel – as long as people don’t drive to the pump all at once to fill up.
The problem is that evidence suggests Australian shoppers are some of the world’s biggest panic buyers.
Fuel prices have reached an average of $2.19 a litre this week. Hannah Murphy In a situation like this, the cold, hard economic analysis suggests panic buying is quite rational – for the individual, not for society.
“It becomes individually optimal. Socially, not optimal,” says Dr Timothy Neal, a University of NSW economist who has studied panic buying. “It is the role of government to try to remedy that, but I don’t envy them because it’s a very hard psychology to fight against.”
The closure of a major oil shipping route because of the war in the Middle East caused unleaded petrol to jump 20 per cent to $2.19 a litre on average, while barrels of crude have reached $US98, the highest prices since 2022. Australia imports about 90 per cent of its liquid fuel.
But that does not mean there is a shortage, says the fuel industry. Ampol, for example, has 45 days of fuel supply available.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday there had been no reductions in Australia’s fuel supply. “What we know is that there hasn’t been less supply,” he said. “Over the last few weeks, there have been issues of distribution. So there have been shortages in some areas.”