Fuel supply/ shortages

Ineedabiggerboat · Senior Member

RE: Fuel supply/ shortages

Are We Lost · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Just 13% of our crude comes from the Middle East.
Most comes from Malaysia and some from Africa and PNG.

We could not survive very long on crude imports alone because our refinery capacity is so low. The vast majority of our fuel is imported and the vast majority of that came as crude through Hormuz to the Asian refineries we import from.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Wrong. You are not listening.
I quoted the sources of the crude that our fuel is made from by the refineries that produce our fuel.
13% from the Middle East, 21% from Africa, most from Malaysia.
Cheers,
Peter

Are We Lost · Guru

I was listening. You said "our crude". And yes, for that I believe we do import the majority from Malaysia.

But to address what you actually meant, based on your next post, I would be interested to see where you got those figures from. They are very different from my understanding. So I just posed the question to AI.

"List Australia's main suppliers of refined fuel imports in order and show how much of those suppliers' crude came through Hormuz. Use figures from 2024 or 2025 to predate the current oil crisis."

Country	Fuel Imports (USD billion)	% of Their Crude via Hormuz
South Korea	$9.18B	~71%
Singapore	$6.44B	~50%
Malaysia	$4.18B	~40%
India	$3.16B	~45%
Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)	$2.61B	~70%

As I know AI accuracy is often not great I just treat the figures as a guide but they look reasonable to me. Not sure why the focus on this anyway.

Ineedabiggerboat · Senior Member

Anyone who is allergic to facts word salad move on. According to Grok Australias main suppliers of refined fuel (petroleum product) imports, based on the most recent detailed data (primarily 2024 values from trade statistics, with 2025 shares aligning closely), ranked by import value/volume share are: 1. South Korea (largest supplier; ~2530% of Australias refined petroleum imports in recent years, or ~$9.18B in 2024) 2. Singapore (~2526% share; ~$6.44B in 2024) 3. Malaysia (~13% share; ~$4.18B in 2024) 4. India (~8% share; ~$3.16B in 2024) 5. Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) (~8% share; ~$2.61B in 2024) These five account for the large majority of Australias refined fuel imports (diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, etc.), which make up most of the countrys petroleum product needs given limited domestic refining. Other notable but smaller sources include China, Indonesia, and Thailand. Data comes from sources like OEC, EIA, and Australian reports; exact rankings can shift slightly year-to-year by volume vs. value or specific products (e.g., China is more prominent for jet fuel). For each supplier, the approximate share of their crude oil (feedstock for refining) that comes through the Strait of Hormuz (i.e., sourced from Persian Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, etc., nearly all of which must transit Hormuz to reach Asia): South Korea: ~70% of crude oil imports transit via Hormuz (Middle East supplies consistently around this level in recent years). Singapore: ~30% (per multiple dependence analyses; some 2025 reports note higher reliance on Middle Eastern crude at 5070%+ due to refinery needs). Malaysia: 2530% (or up to ~69% of imports from Persian Gulf per some ASEAN analyses). India: ~42% of crude oil imports transit via Hormuz. Taiwan: ~60% of crude oil imports transit via Hormuz. These percentages reflect each countrys overall crude import dependence on Persian Gulf sources (the primary route for which is the Strait of Hormuz). Singapore and Malaysia are major refining hubs with no/limited domestic crude, so their figures directly tie to imported feedstock. South Korea, India, and Taiwan are heavy net importers. Note that exact figures can vary slightly by year, data source (e.g., Middle East vs. strict Persian Gulf), and whether domestic production is factored in, but the numbers above are from consistent recent analyses of Hormuz vulnerability. Disruptions in the Strait would significantly impact these suppliers ability to produce and export refined fuels to Australia.

rmoor · Guru

We don't need this thread to be shut down, it is too important a topic that affects everybody's daily life.

Traveling Grey Nomads in particular.

Things seemed to settle down a bit today on the world stage, but the situation will remain fluid for some time no doubt.
Sometimes good comes out of bad.

Maybe the opening of a big new Australian oilfield and more refining capacity will be a win/win.
Once the increased prices start to hit in the supermarkets, it may well be a HUGE wake up call to all of us.

In particular, those with the shiny pants in Canberra.
They are probably on thin ice at present (on all sides) and need to make some value judgement decisions or we could see massive revolt and swift change.

Be interesting to see how the whole mess pans out.

Are We Lost · Guru

Ineeda, apart from a bit of punctuation to make it readable, I suggest a bit of desk checking. For example:

1. South Korea (largest supplier; ~2530% of Australias refined petroleum imports in recent years

Without reading it all, it seems the figures are identical to mine, with the same order of countries. Mine did not come from Grok. They came from ChatGPT, a competitor. Somewhat surprising that the figures are identical.

-- Edited by Are We Lost on Wednesday 8th of April 2026 08:38:29 PM

Ineedabiggerboat · Senior Member

AWL its the forum that mangles punctuation and some numbers. The copied text is perfect and accurate. The website is at fault. Glad that we are in agreement. Both AI agents scan the same published data so that makes sense. I started with ChatGPT, then tried Grok as I found ChatGPT suffers from MAD more. Also I to some extent trust Elon but Sam is evil.