{"text":[[{"start":7.7,"text":"Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave her Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese a Japanese musk melon and a heavy metal record when she visited Canberra this week. But her biggest gift was a commitment to keep fuels flowing between the two countries. "}],[{"start":23.6,"text":"The joint statement on energy security sealed during Takaichi’s visit capped weeks of intense efforts across Asia by Albanese and his ministers to ease fears of a fuel crisis in a country dependent on imports of refined oil products to keep its transport, farming and mining industries moving."}],[{"start":41.95,"text":"The effort, dubbed “petro-diplomacy” by some Australian observers, has borne fruit. The joint energy statement with Japan, which followed similar declarations with South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, helped reassure consumers and companies that regional partners will not halt fuel shipments to conserve their domestic supplies. "}],[{"start":61.95,"text":"While Australia is a major exporter of liquefied natural gas and coal, it is highly reliant on oil products refined in Asian countries that themselves depend on supplies of crude from the Middle East."}],[{"start":74.4,"text":"Foreign minister Penny Wong flew to China last week to push for the resumption of sales of jet fuel to Australian businesses amid signs Beijing could relax curbs on exports of oil products it imposed after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. "}],[{"start":90.65,"text":"A reliable supply of fuel into Australia was central to maintaining the flow of Australian commodities including LNG and coal to Asian buyers, Wong pointedly told her Beijing hosts."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":102.65,"text":"The diplomatic drive has helped calm concerns about fuel supplies that sparked panic buying in March and April, when the government was forced to provide daily updates on the number of petrol stations that had run dry."}],[{"start":115.4,"text":"Vanessa Hudson, chief executive of airline Qantas, which has cut some routes due to the cost of jet fuel, said this week she was “increasingly confident” about supplies after the government’s “incredibly important” diplomatic efforts. "}],[{"start":128.20000000000002,"text":"Engagement with Beijing meant increased supplies from China would soon augment shipments from the US and Mexico, Hudson told investors at a conference organised by the financial group Macquarie. "}],[{"start":141.20000000000002,"text":"“I think the government has done a great thing to be very focused and invested in those relationships at this point in time,” she said. "}],[{"start":148.25000000000003,"text":"The near-halting of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz has focused attention on Australia’s limited fuel reserves, with diesel stocks in March drifting below the minimum level equivalent to 30 days of demand. Concerns were exacerbated by a fire at one of Australia’s only two remaining refineries in April. "}],[{"start":168.35000000000002,"text":"But the government says it has secured an “additional” 450mn litres of diesel and 100mn litres of jet fuel. Ministers did not break down where the fuel was from, but a fleet of seven vessels carrying diesel cargos were headed from the US to Australia last month."}],[{"start":184.40000000000003,"text":"Energy minister Chris Bowen said this week that Australia now had bigger stocks of fuel than before the war in the Middle East, with 33 days’ worth of diesel, 43 days of petrol and 28 days of jet fuel."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":197.15000000000003,"text":"The government would continue to use diplomacy to manage what had been the “worst energy crisis in history”, Bowen said. "}],[{"start":205.25000000000003,"text":"Lurion De Mello, a senior lecturer in finance at Macquarie University, said Australia had been able to leverage its importance as an LNG and coal supplier when negotiating with Asian liquid-fuel suppliers."}],[{"start":218.05000000000004,"text":"“Petro-diplomacy today is about managing dependence without weaponising it,” De Mello said. "}],[{"start":224.30000000000004,"text":"“Energy trade can create leverage, but once it’s used overtly as a weapon, it undermines trust, accelerates diversification away from the supplier and ultimately weakens the exporter’s long-term influence,” he said. "}],[{"start":239.75000000000003,"text":"Matt Halliday, chief executive of fuel supplier and refinery Ampol, said fuel stocks in some regions of Australia had quickly evaporated after the war started because local retailers relied on the spot market for supplies."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":"