Australia's fuel security push adds 40 million liters of diesel for Queensland
Canberra locks in more diesel and jet fuel as diverging product cracks expose a refined products market split between gasoline strength and distillate weakness.
The Australian government has secured an additional 40 million liters of diesel for Queensland through an agreement between Freedom Fuels and Export Finance Australia, with the cargo due in Brisbane this month.3 The procurement extends a push that has already locked in more than 600,000 barrels of jet fuel from China, with three cargoes expected from early June on top of roughly 100 million liters already secured through the Fuel and Fertilizer Security Facility.2
Australia's scramble for supply lands in a market where refined products are moving in sharply different directions. The RBOB-Brent crack spread stood at $43.04/bbl as reported by OilPrice.com in late June (2026-06-24), described at the time as the highest level on record, while diesel and gasoil were trading on softer industrial demand fundamentals.5 Gasoline is the outlier. Middle distillates are not following.
RBOB gasoline front-month was trading at $3.15/gal as of August 13, 2026, with heating oil at $4.28/gal on the same date. [LIVE PRICES] Total motor gasoline imports averaged 463,000 barrels per day in the week of July 27, 2026, while distillate fuel imports came in at 99,000 barrels per day, the EIA reported.6
US crude stocks rose week on week, broadly in line with Macquarie strategists' pre-release forecast of a 2.5 million barrel build.6 But the strategic petroleum reserve fell by 9.1 million barrels during the reporting week, leaving it 36.2 million barrels below year-ago levels.4 Distillate stocks fell 2.1 million barrels and remain below seasonal norms.4
The four-week average for total products supplied was 20.4 million barrels per day, down 0.9 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the EIA.6 That demand softness keeps diesel from joining gasoline's rally. US gasoline inventories stood at 211.6 million barrels as of June 8, 2026 — tight, but not at crisis levels.4
ICE Brent crude front-month was at $88.36/bbl as of August 13, 2026. [LIVE PRICES] The Strait of Hormuz remains a source of supply opacity. Three crude oil tankers carrying a combined 6 million barrels of Gulf crude exited the strait with tracking systems switched off, according to shipping data from Kpler and LSEG released Monday (2026-05-18).1 Two VLCCs, Agios Fanourios I and Kiara M, passed through on Sunday (2026-05-17) carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude each.1
A San Marino-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Basrah crude has not yet disclosed its discharge destination.1 The VLCC Basrah Energy loaded 2 million barrels of Upper Zakum crude from ADNOC's Zirku terminal on May 1 before exiting the strait on May 6, Kpler data show.1 Each dark vessel represents roughly 2 million barrels that traders cannot track from the discharge end.1
Australia's AUD 7.5-billion Fuel and Fertilizer Security Facility underpins the broader procurement effort.2 An AUD 3.2-billion tranche of the package will fund a government-owned Australian Fuel Security Reserve of around 1 billion liters of long-term diesel and aviation fuel supply.2 Canberra is also pursuing negotiations with additional neighboring countries for fuel supply beyond the China jet fuel deals.2
The gap between gasoline and distillate performance is now the sharpest divide in the product complex. Where the dark tankers from Hormuz end up discharging their combined 6 million barrels remains the most concrete unresolved supply variable in the crude market.1