SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- US President Donald Trump said on Sunday (Washington time) the US would begin a full naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, escalating a standoff that has brought the critical waterway to a near standstill and disrupted global energy supplies.
- Trump’s announcement came hours after he said marathon peace talks in Pakistan collapsed because of Iran’s unwillingness “to give up its nuclear ambitions”.
- The blockade will further squeeze global oil supply, drive up fuel prices and cut off a vital lifeline for the Islamic Republic.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded with a statement warning that military vessels approaching the strait will be considered a ceasefire breach and dealt with harshly and decisively, underlining the risk of a dangerous escalation.
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Trump has lashed out at Pope Leo in a post to Truth Social, calling the pontiff “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy”, before saying “Leo should get his act together”.
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Foreign Minister Penny Wong said a return to the negotiating table should be the priority, after the “disappointing” collapse of the Islamabad talks.
- Trump took time out on the weekend to sit ringside at an Ultimate Fighting Championship match in Miami.
Washington: A US naval blockade of Iran is a major, open-ended military endeavour that could trigger fresh retaliation from Tehran and put tremendous strain on an already fragile ceasefire, experts say.
US President Donald Trump, in a social media post after no deal emerged from peace talks this weekend in Islamabad, said the US Navy “will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz”.
The US military’s Central Command later said the blockade would only apply to ships going to or from Iran, including all Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
It would take effect on Monday at 10am in Washington (midnight, AEST), Centcom said.
Donald Trump’s plan to blockade the Strait of Hormuz has had a major impact on commodity and equity markets this morning.
Crude oil prices alone have jumped by more than 7 per cent in early trade. West Texas finished last week’s trade around $US95 a barrel, but this morning, investors have pushed it back to $US104 a barrel.
It’s a similar story for Brent crude, which has also climbed in price by more than 7 per cent.
The Australian dollar, which was approaching US71¢ late last week, dipped below US70¢ this morning, before recovering a little to sit around US70.19¢.
The ASX200 opened down by 0.4 per cent given the uncertainty over how long the current ceasefire will hold.
Unsurprisingly, share prices in energy companies have climbed, including Karoon Energy (up 6.2 per cent), Viva Energy (up 4.8 per cent) and Woodside (up 3.1 per cent).
The energy minister says the government will consider “everything” to ensure Australia’s fuel resilience into the future, including greater electrification and resource extraction.
“We’ll always look at sensible proposals in relation to domestic capability,” Bowen told reporters in Canberra.
“That does include continued efforts on electrification and renewable energy, as well as sensible measures on storage and extraction,” he said.
Bowen said some had tried to turn the oil shock into a culture war, but the government was focused on improving resilience.
“But you know, that’s a medium to longer-term priority for the government. At the moment, we’re focused on ensuring we get through this uncertain international environment,” he said.
“We’re not making further announcements today, but obviously … we’ll always look at sensible things in due course to ensure our ongoing resilience.”
Bowen says the global oil shock is spurring governments around the world to embrace renewable energy.
“In all my discussions with my international colleagues in energy and climate, there isn’t one country in the world that said, ‘You know what this fuel crisis reminds us, is we need more fossil fuels’,” the climate change and energy minister said.
“That conversation is not being had anywhere around the world. In fact, countries around the world are saying this underpins and underlines the need to keep going with things like electrification and ensuring renewable energy is an important part of the mix going forward.“
He said the immediate priority was ensuring fuel supply, but noted wind and solar could not be sanctioned or impeded.
Bowen has attacked the Coalition during his press conference, saying the federal opposition had failed to suggest any constructive solutions to the global oil shock.
“They’ve chosen pot shots over policies, insults over ideas, and sledging over solutions. They’re just playing politics, and that says a lot about them,” Bowen told reporters in Canberra.
“I’ve been dealing with all sorts of proposals to improve fuel supply in Australia. Not one of them has come from the opposition. Have you heard a single constructive suggestion from the opposition on fuel supply? You haven’t.”
Bowen says no fuel supply ships that had been expected to arrive in Australia had failed to do so since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East.
“Any cancellations of forward orders have been replaced and more,” he told reporters in Canberra.
Bowen also gave a state-by-state breakdown of where fuel shortages remained at service stations.
Fuel shortages, state-by-state
- NSW: 106 with no diesel, 16 out of all fuel
- Victoria: 34 with no diesel, 17 with no unleaded
- Queensland: 36 with no diesel, 20 with no unleaded
- South Australia: four with no diesel, 17 with no unleaded
- Western Australia: seven with no diesel, 23 with no unleaded
- Tasmania: 10 with no diesel, four with no unleaded
- Northern Territory: four with no diesel, two with no unleaded
- The ACT: one without diesel and no shortages of unleaded
“That’s 205 across the country, which is 2.6 per cent of Australia’s service stations without any diesels,” Bowen said.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen is giving an update on Australia’s fuel stockpiles, saying the nation’s diesel stores have increased by two days’ worth since his last update.
“We have 38 days worth of petrol … we have 28 days worth of jet fuel and 31 days worth of diesel, which is up two days,” Bowen told reporters in Canberra.
“As you will notice, these figures haven’t moved around all that much over the last month or so. That’s a good thing. That shows that while fuel is getting out the door at record rates across Australia, fuel is also coming in the door at Australia’s import terminals, and it’s also going out the door at Australia’s two refineries that are working full pelt to ensure that fuel supply is kept up to Australians.”
Bowen said 57 ships were on their way to Australia with various types of fuel, which was “about standard for this time of the year”.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen is speaking to the media and will address Australia’s fuel supply. Follow along with our livestream.
Incoming defence force chief Mark Hammond says the Australian navy is “as ready as it ever has been” to be deployed.
“We’ve got 10 surface combatants right now. Eight of them are at sea today,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“The navy is as ready as it ever has been, and they are fitted with one of the most advanced radars in the world … and some of the most advanced missile and point defence systems in the world.
“Are they capable of performing the mission? As Admiral Johnson said last week, absolutely. The contribution is one for consideration by the Australian government, should they receive a request, and there’s been no such request as yet.”
The prime minister has brushed off a question about why Australia only has about a third of the 90-day fuel stockpile recommended by the International Energy Agency.
“What we have done since we came to office, we had reserves that were in the United States,” Anthony Albanese said.
“One of the things that we have done is to make sure that we brought those reserves back. We did that in 2022. That has meant that we have the largest fuel reserves at the beginning of this global crisis in 15 years because of the work that we had done,” he said, before adding there was more work to do.
He also dismissed a question on whether the government was seriously considering a 25 per cent windfall tax on gas exports in the May budget.
“We’ll have the budget next month,” he said.
