Not on the official measures. Australia holds about 34 days of fuel cover on the weekly DCCEEW statement for 8 September 2026 (petrol 41, diesel 32, jet fuel 30), every fuel at or above its stockholding line, and about 4.4 per cent of service stations had a fuel grade flagged unavailable on the last check, which is normal churn. Prices are high; that is a different thing from fuel being short, and this site keeps the two apart.
How long current stocks would last at current consumption, against the stockholding line each importer must hold to.
| Fuel | Days of cover | MSO line | Margin | On the week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 41 | 27 | +14 | -4.7% |
| Diesel | 32 | 32 | level | -3.0% |
| Jet fuel | 30 | 27 | +3 | -9.1% |
The sharpest move this week was jet fuel, down 9.1 per cent from 33 days. The MSO line is the stockholding obligation on individual importers, a reference point rather than a national floor, and it is under temporary relief until 30 September 2026. Diesel is the fuel to watch: it is the one closest to its line and the one the economy runs on.
The reserve board, the in-transit total and the composite index with its six inputs are on the fuel supply page.
A shortage shows up first as empty pumps, so the share of stations with a grade unavailable is the early signal.
About 4.4 per cent of tracked service stations had at least one fuel grade flagged unavailable or not reliably reported on 15 September 2026, with 1 per cent flagged on unleaded and 1.4 per cent on diesel. Under 2 per cent dry is the churn of deliveries and maintenance; 5 per cent is the level at which shortages start to be felt; the March 2026 peak was 608 stations without petrol or diesel, about 8 per cent of the national total at the time.
Six inputs, weighted, on a 0 to 100 scale; two of the six are editorial assessments.
The index reads 36 of 100, strained, down 9 from 45 on 8 September 2026. A strained reading means the inputs are under pressure, not that fuel has run out: buying as you normally would keeps reserves where they are, and filling every tank early is the one thing that turns a tight market into an empty pump.
The two get confused because the same conflict drives both. They are measured differently and they answer different questions.
Petrol is 217.7 c/L nationally, 46.7 c/L above where it sat before the conflict; that is a price fact. Days of cover, the stockholding lines and station outages are supply facts, and they are what this page is about. High prices are what a market does when supply is tight but available: the price rations demand without the pumps running dry. Empty pumps are what happens when the price is not allowed to do that, or when everyone fills up at once. Why the price is where it is, number by number, is on its own page.
The site's own triggers and the official plan level, so the reader can see the line before it is crossed.
Our status bar turns to its crisis register when aggregate cover falls to 30 days or the index to 40, and to its elevated register at 45 days and 60; the thresholds and the four inputs are published on the methodology. The Commonwealth's own scale is the National Fuel Security Plan, which sits at Level 2 (Keeping Australia moving) of four, checked against fuelplan.gov.au on 15 September 2026; Level 3 is targeted action and Level 4 is protecting critical services.
Source: DCCEEW MSO weekly statistics; FuelRadar; fuelplan.gov.au; FuelCrisis supply health indexUpdated 8 September 2026National Fuel Security PlanHow we measure this
Days of cover refresh with the Saturday DCCEEW release and station availability is reviewed monthly; the table below is the history of the page itself.
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 15 September 2026 | Page published: days of cover per fuel against the stockholding line, station availability, the supply health band, and what would change the answer. |
If a supply figure here turns out to be wrong we say so on the corrections page rather than quietly editing it.