|
|
MEDIA RELEASE NICK XENOPHON M.L.C. INDEPENDENT NO POKIES
MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
REVEALED:
THE ALARMING SECRET REPORT ON SA’s FUEL SUPPLIES WE WEREN’T MEANT TO SEE
A secret Government Report into the State’s
fuel supplies – delivered to the Minister for Energy in February 2004 “should
alarm every South Australian that’s concerned about the security and pricing
of fuel supplies in the State” according to No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon. The Report, by the Liquid
Fuel (Diesel And Petrol) Stocks Task Force entitled ‘A
Report into Fuel Storage And Supply in South Australia’ was commissioned
by the Minister for Energy in December 2003 following the Task Force being
established on 8th December 2003 – in light of the closure of Pt
Stanvac earlier that year and a critical diesel supply shortage for harvest
2003. It is believed the 45 page
Report was also presented to Cabinet early last year.
The Report, obtained by Mr
Xenophon from the ‘back of a truck’ (which had obviously stalled because it
ran out of fuel) refers to the closure of the Mobil Pt Stanvac refining and fuel
storage facilities as having “significantly reduced the overall fuel storage capacity in the
State” to just the Birkenhead facility. The
Report goes on to state: This concentration of fuel storage and delivery at Given the fundamental importance of a secure
fuel supply to the state to support all manner of activities that industry,
commerce and the general public conduct utilising fuel, it is fundamental that
the state has the ability to receive bulk delivery of fuel.
Against this context retention of the Pt Stanvac fuel delivery and
storage facilities for this purpose must be considered a strategic issue for the
state. It also raises the practice of
major oil companies having a “minimum stock policy” for fuel which translates to just 3 –
5 days reserves for Caltex and Mobil/Shell, and 5 days for BP.
The Report highlights that: These minimum stock policies assume a ship
per week delivery schedule. While
these minimum stock policies appear acceptable on the surface, as South
Australia now relies solely on marine deliveries of fuel, any delays in marine
deliveries can and have caused stock outs to occur for any one or two of the
fuel majors at the terminal level, but rarely at the retail level….Stock outs
for individual fuel companies have always occurred in the past but are now more
probable post the closure of Pt Stanvac, which operated as an intermediate
balancing storage for Birkenhead. Mr Xenophon said the Report also focuses on the little publicised diesel fuel
fiasco that farmers faced in the late 2003 harvest season where there were
reports of headers stalling in paddocks because of a shortage of diesel fuel.
The Report warns shortages could ‘again
occur’. Even more disturbingly the
Report raises the issue of fuel supplies for emergency services vehicles.
Emergency service operators need to consider strategies to manage
situations when fuel may not be available, for whatever reason.
The
Report makes 11 key recommendations for strategic planning to occur to prevent
further future fuel shortages, with Recommendations 3 and 4 relating to the
State Disaster Organisation and Emergency Services. Mr
Xenophon who revealed last week how close the State had come to a fuel crisis
with the delay of the berthing of the oil tanker Bow Puma said this Report
”highlights
just how vulnerable SA is with fuel supplies”. “If
a ship gets stuck in the Mr
Xenophon renewed his calls for the Government to “get
tough” with Mobil over the Pt Stanvac fuel storage facility. “There
is no question now that the deal the State Government did with Mobil to mothball
the facility in 2003 for 3 years, with an option of at least 3 more years after
that, was great for Mobil, but a dud for South Australians.
The Government needs to rip up that flawed deal immediately.
There are operators that are willing to use the 500 million litre storage
facility at Pt Stanvac on fair commercial terms, but can’t because of the
sweetheart deal between the Government and Mobil.
And what’s worse no independent operators will invest in an alternative
fuel storage facility while Pt Stanvac is mothballed”. Mr
Xenophon foreshadowed he would be pushing for an urgent Parliamentary Inquiry
into the State’s fuel stocks – both in terms of security of supply and
pricing – when Parliament resumes next week.
“South Australians deserve to know the full extent of the problem and the
potential solutions – neither of which the Government seems to be forthcoming
on”.
Written and authorised by Nick Xenophon, 653 Lower North East Road, Paradise, SA 5075
|