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href="http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16829012%255E2682,00.html">http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16829012%255E2682,00.html</A>
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<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><STRONG><FONT size=3>Petrol almost ran
out<o:p></o:p></FONT></STRONG></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">By GREG KELTON<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">06oct05<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">THE arrival of an oil tanker yesterday carrying more
than 30 million </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">litres has helped to prevent a desperate fuel shortage
in South </SPAN></FONT><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Australia</SPAN></FONT></st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The situation has raised serious concerns about the
reliability of </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">the state's unleaded petrol supply. <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Adelaide</st1:place></st1:City> came close to
running </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">out of unleaded, with stocks dropping to critical
levels. </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Another tanker is due within 24 hours with further
supplies. </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Some metropolitan service stations have been grappling
with fuel </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">shortages since early this week and the RAA has urged
motorists not </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">to panic buy. The shortage has been blamed on long
weekend fuel </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">purchases and the delay of a tanker bringing fuel to the
<st1:place w:st="on">Birkenhead</st1:place> </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">terminal from
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Singapore</st1:country-region> via <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Perth</st1:place></st1:City>.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Tankers usually dock every four days at <st1:place
w:st="on">Birkenhead</st1:place>, which has a total </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">capacity of 100 million
litres, but the Bow Puma arrived six days </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New"
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">later than expected. Energy Minister
Patrick Conlon said </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">yesterday "if one more thing had gone wrong, then we
would have had a </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">difficult situation". </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The Government has called for talks with oil companies
to ensure the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">threatened shortage does not happen again. All the major
petrol </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">suppliers draw fuel from the <st1:place
w:st="on">Birkenhead</st1:place> terminal, which normally </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">holds enough to supply
SA for between seven and 10 days. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Since the closure of Port Stanvac, the bulk of SA's
petrol supplies </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">come from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Singapore</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">No Pokies MLC Nick Xenophon said one of the storage
facilities at </SPAN></FONT><st1:place w:st="on"><FONT face="Courier New"
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Birkenhead</SPAN></FONT></st1:place> <FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>had been empty of unleaded petrol since
Tuesday. <o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">"It's time for the Government to give an ultimatum to
Mobil to re-</SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">open the storage facilities at Port Stanvac (which has a
500 million </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">litre capacity)." Mobil Oil said in a statement that
supplies of </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">unleaded petrol had been maintained, although there had
been "a </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">temporary tightness" because of the delay in a tanker's
arrival. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Mr Conlon said the situation had become "far, far too
tight" because </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">some of the oil companies had not been using all the
available </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">storage capacity. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">He is asking the oil companies to explain how they will
prevent this </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">happening in the future. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Opposition Leader Rob Kerin said the Government should
work with the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">oil industry to find a solution to the storage problem.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">RAA spokesman Hamilton Calder called for a review of
current storage </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">arrangements in SA. </SPAN></FONT><A
href="mailto:jgoldie@snowy.net.au"></A></FONT></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>