Our regional towns including the great town of Gundagai are not immune to the current fuel crisis and are confronting a fuel emergency that locals say feels like “the end of the road for trucking and farming this winter.” Panic buying has emptied pumps faster than during COVID, with some stations reporting stock sold out within hours, and truck drivers on the highway reporting queues stretching back toward the Sheahan Bridge.
The trigger? A brutal three-week-old US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began with precision airstrikes on February 28 and has now crippled global oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow maritime lifeline carrying one-fifth of the planet’s crude. Australia, which imports 90 per cent of its refined petrol and diesel, is caught in the crossfire. Energy Minister Chris Bowen has already tapped emergency reserves and loosened fuel standards, but regional NSW is feeling it first and hardest.
Pre-conflict prices in mid-February hovered between 165–180 cents per litre for unleaded 91 and similar for diesel across the Gundagai area, according to historical PetrolSpy, FuelCheck NSW, and FuelRadar data. Today the picture is starkly different, with rises of 50–110 cents a litre driven by wholesale oil spikes above US$100 a barrel, panic demand, and supply-chain snarls.
None of the local stations have been left unaffected.
• Mobil Gundagai (223 Sheridan St): Unleaded 91 has jumped from around 165–170 cents pre-war to 229.5 cents today — a rise of about 60–65 cents. Diesel has climbed from approximately 175–180 cents to around 269.5–279.5 cents (up more than 90–100 cents). Staff report deliveries vanishing quickly amid heavy trucker demand.
• Shell Reddy Express Gundagai (Cnr Mount St & Middle St, South Gundagai): Unleaded 91 now around 229.9 cents (up ~60 cents from ~170 cents baseline); diesel commonly 274.9–281 cents (up ~95–105 cents). The station, a key stop for locals, sees long lines during restocks.
• Shell Reddy Express Gundagai Tuckerbox (Cnr Hume Highway & Sheahan Drive): Unleaded 91 at 229.9 cents (up ~60 cents); diesel 274.9 cents (up ~95 cents). As the 24/7 highway servo, it has become a focal point for truckies and travellers, with some days reporting empty diesel bowsers by afternoon. E10 often tracks slightly lower at 227.9 cents when available.
Gundagai’s position on the Hume Highway makes it a critical refuelling hub for heavy transport between Sydney and Melbourne. Farmers in the surrounding districts, reliant on diesel for broadacre cropping (wheat, canola) and livestock operations, are stockpiling in tanks and trailers. One local grazier told the Times:
Australia’s Fuel Vulnerability Exposed
Australia holds just 36 days of petrol, 32 days of diesel and 29 days of jet fuel in reserve — well below International Energy Agency standards. With only two operating refineries left (Viva Energy Geelong and Ampol Lytton Brisbane), the nation imports roughly 90 per cent of its refined fuel, primarily from South Korea (26 per cent), Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. Those Asian refineries in turn source the majority of their crude oil from the Middle East — oil that must pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The government has released around 762 million litres from stockpiles (roughly six days’ petrol and five days’ diesel) and temporarily eased sulphur standards to unlock an extra 100 million litres monthly. Yet panic buying — sales up 238 per cent in some regional areas — has created artificial shortages. Bowen has pleaded with motorists to stop hoarding, warning that “the biggest risk is not supply, it’s behaviour.” Experts now openly discuss rationing if the conflict drags beyond April.
The War That Shook the World: A Timeline of Bombings and Escalation
The conflict erupted at 9:45 am Tehran time on February 28, 2026, when more than 100 US and Israeli aircraft launched a single, synchronised wave of strikes. Israeli F-35s and US B-2 bombers and carrier-based jets targeted Iran’s most sensitive sites in what Pentagon officials described as “the most ambitious attack in decades.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed in the opening hours when missiles pulverised his central Tehran compound. Iranian state media later confirmed the deaths of his daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law. Other high-value targets struck in the first wave included:
• Nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan (already damaged in earlier 2025 exchanges but hit again to “degrade” enrichment capability).
• Military bases and IRGC command centres.
• The residences and offices of Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh, IRGC Commander Mohammed Pakpour and intelligence chiefs.
• A major Tehran hospital and, tragically, an elementary school near a military base in Minab where over 100 girls were reported killed.
Satellite imagery released by Israeli media showed entire buildings in Khamenei’s compound reduced to rubble. A second wave on March 1 targeted oil infrastructure on Kharg Island (though Trump later claimed he spared full destruction “for reasons of decency”). Iranian casualties are estimated in the hundreds; the regime declared 40 days of national mourning and installed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader.
Iran’s retaliation was swift and asymmetric. Missile barrages struck Israel, US bases in the region, and Gulf Arab states. Most critically, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps began harassing shipping in the Persian Gulf, attacking at least five tankers and mining approaches. Within days, tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had plummeted by more than 70 per cent.
Trump’s Shifting Justifications and Ever-Changing Timelines
President Donald Trump has offered a carousel of reasons for launching the operation. Initially framed as preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and destroying its ballistic missile program, the messaging quickly evolved. Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government” and claimed the strikes would spark a popular uprising. Days later he spoke of “regime change” and “unconditional surrender.” He has also referenced support for Israel following earlier exchanges and, in one aside, the need to secure resources and ward off an “imminent threat.”
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has repeatedly emphasised that only the commander-in-chief will declare when objectives are met.
Timelines for ending the war have been equally fluid. Early projections spoke of a four-to-five-week campaign. Trump later declared the operation “ahead of schedule,” claimed “practically nothing left to target,” and insisted he could end it “any time I want.” At other moments he has said the war is “very complete” yet still requires “ultimate victory,” and that Iran must surrender unconditionally. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has indicated no fixed end date. The White House has rejected multiple “off-ramps” offered by advisers, according to sources.
The Strait of Hormuz: The 21-Mile Chokepoint That Controls Global Oil
At the centre of the crisis lies the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that funnels nearly 20 million barrels of oil per day, or roughly one-fifth of global seaborne trade. At its narrowest point the strait is just 21 miles (34 km) wide, with two-mile-wide shipping lanes in each direction and a two-mile buffer zone. Tankers must navigate Iranian waters on one side and Omani waters on the other.
For decades it has been the world’s most critical energy artery. During the 1980s “Tanker War,” Iran and Iraq attacked hundreds of vessels. Today the threat is even more potent: Iran possesses thousands of fast-attack boats, anti-ship missiles, mines and drones. The new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has vowed to keep the strait closed “as leverage” until the attacks cease. Five tankers have already been struck; dozens more sit anchored on either side, unwilling to risk passage. Oil prices have surged, and Asian refineries supplying Australia have begun curtailing output. Trump has demanded that “about seven” countries — including NATO allies, China, Japan and South Korea — send warships to escort tankers and reopen the strait. He has warned that failure to assist will mean “a very bad future” for those nations. Defence analysts note that escorting vessels would themselves become targets, and any ground operation to neutralise Iranian coastal batteries would be politically toxic.
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