Australia minister warns against 'dangerous' price gouging of fuel

Sydney, Australia: Australia s energy minister warned on Friday against dangerous price gouging of petrol as he relaxed rules on how much fuel compa...

Sydney, Australia: Australia's energy minister warned on Friday against "dangerous" price gouging of petrol as he relaxed rules on how much fuel companies needed to hold in stock in a bid to boost supply.

The country -- reliant on oil imports for fuel -- has seen petrol prices spike due to panic buying since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East.

In a push to boost supply, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the government would slash the Minimum Stockholding Obligation -- which guarantees a baseline level of fuel stock -- for petrol and diesel by 20 percent.

"This will allow the release of up to 762 million litres of petrol and diesel from Australia's domestic reserves, where these can be targeted towards localised market disruption," he said in a statement.

"This will take time to move through Australia's long and complex supply chain from where fuel is held to the regional areas where it's needed," he said.