‘Vicious cycle’: panic buying is biggest risk to Australia’s petrol supplies, experts say

Regional service stations are struggling to replenish fuel supplies left empty by panic buying that has seen demand double and even triple in areas like the Barossa and Mildura amid an escalating Middle East conflict.As a leading motoring group warned of a “vicious cycle” of motorists stockpiling petrol, Chris Bowen, the energy minister, stood up in parliament to urge Australians to remain calm, insisting the nation did not have a shortage of fuel supplies.Amid reports of country service stations running dry, some regional fuel distributors have claimed the shortage is due to wholesale petrol being reserved for sale in the big cities.“The biggest risk to availability in Australia right now is panic buying,” Bowen said, pointing to a “massive spike” in demand that had seen fuel sales up by 238% in the Adelaide Hills and Barossa, and 100% in Victoria’s Mildura.“Of course providers also find difficulty in meeting the demand

Financier Crispin Odey takes FCA to court over exclusion from City

Crispin Odey, the multimillionaire financier fighting various lawsuits relating to allegations of sexual misconduct, is to launch a case against the financial services regulator over his exile from the City.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Odey £1.8m and banned him from the financial services industry last year.It found that he had displayed a “lack of integrity” by attempting to frustrate an investigation by his own hedge fund into allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies.Odey had already launched a £79m libel claim against the Financial Times, which first published claims about his behaviour towards junior female staff

Qantas hikes international air fares citing volatile oil prices from war in Middle East

Qantas has announced it is increasing the price of its international air fares amid oil price volatility caused by the war in the Middle East, while the airline also reported higher-than-normal ticket sales for flights to Europe.While the company hedges against change in jet fuel prices, it was not fully covered for the spike seen in the wake of surging oil prices, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.Qantas’s price hikes will differ in extent across its international routes, the spokesperson said, but did not provide further detail.The conflict, catalysed by the US-Israel strike on Iran in late February, has disrupted flights around the world with major airports and airspaces affected across the Middle East – including Dubai, among the busiest international airports in the world and the official stopover for Emirates.Qantas, which does not fly to the Middle East, has continued to operate flights as scheduled and reported seats rapidly filling up as some passengers from affected carriers rebook through the Australian airline

Why has the Iran war sparked fears of stagflation for the global economy?

Oil prices surged on Monday, triggering a stark sell-off across some of the world’s leading stock markets amid growing concern that the US-Israel war on Iran could set the stage for a global economic shock.While they fell back on Tuesday after Donald Trump suggested the Middle East conflict could end “very soon”, oil continues to trade at high levels.The war has caused an energy supply crisis that could risk driving up inflation and interest rates, according to economists, who believe growth is set to weaken while prices rise. Fears of stagflation – where economic activity stagnates, but inflation increases – loom large.Here’s what you need to know

US stock markets close on high after Iran war drove oil prices above $100 a barrel

US stock markets closed on a high after oil prices swung wildly on Monday, reaching a four-year high in the morning that rattled Asian and European markets before settling down once Donald Trump said the US-Israel war with Iran is “very complete”.After surging past $100 a barrel on Monday morning, oil prices came down to $85 a barrel by the time that US stock markets closed in the afternoon. US stocks leaped at a report from a CBS News reporter that Trump thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much” because “they have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force”.The Dow closed at a 230-point jump, while the S&P and Nasdaq closed at 0.83% and 1

We may not be running out of gas but we still need a serious strategic gas reserve | Nils Pratley

Alarmed that Great Britain has only enough gas in storage to cover two days of consumption? Actually, Michael Shanks, the energy minister, is right that the bald statistic is not a reason to run for the hills. But he would help his case if he admitted that the long era of running a “just-in-time” approach to gas supplies looks increasingly unworkable.Shanks is obviously correct that Great Britain does not source its supplies from storage. About 75% of our gas comes from the North Sea – from domestic fields and via the 725-mile underwater Langeled pipeline from Norway – and neither source is affected by the war in Iran.As for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), typically about 18% of supplies today, the market is disrupted now that Qatar, about a fifth of the global market, is not producing