Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc, two of Australia's four crude-oil refiners, published apologies in newspapers yesterday for shortages of gasoline in the Sydney region amid accusations of unwarranted price increases.
Shell's V-Power, 95-octane unleaded and premium unleaded gasoline have been unavailable "for some weeks" in New South Wales because of the shutdown of a refinery unit, the company said in the Sun-Herald.
BP cited production issues at local refineries and constraints on imports for an "unprecedented level" of fuel supply shortages.
Shell said in January it halted its catalytic cracking unit at the Clyde refinery in Sydney after "erratic" performance, bringing forward a shutdown for maintenance. The NRMA motoring organization said it is monitoring prices and reporting price discrepancies to the national competition regulator.
"I want to reassure you that everyone at Shell is working hard to restore refinery supplies to normal and to minimize the impact of this supply disruption," Shell in Australia chairman Russell Caplan said in a "message to customers" published in the Sun-Herald.
Sydney's average retail price yesterday was A$1.436 (US$1.29) a liter, A$0.04 higher than the "suggested fair price," NRMA said on its Web site.
The group said on March 11 it would publish a daily "fair price," using factors including the Singapore refined price, the exchange rate and shipping charges.
Any discrepancy will be reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), until the government's recently appointed Petrol Commissioner Pat Walker takes up his role, NRMA said.
Increases in pump prices across the country in the lead-up to Easter were "broadly in line with the types of rises we see every week," Chris Bowen, minister for competition policy and consumer affairs, said on Channel Nine Networks' program yesterday, citing Graeme Samuel, the chairman of the competition regulator.
"The ACCC has been very active in the lead-up to Easter to ensure that there is no price gouging, ensure there is no anti-competitive conduct," Bowen said.
NRMA disagrees.
Prices reached as much as A$1.50 a liter at the start of the Easter holiday weekend and traded within a wider weekly range than usual, indicating oil companies were taking advantage of motorists, NRMA president Alan Evans told Sky News.
New South Wales Minister for Fair Trading Linda Burney said on Thursday that investigators were monitoring prices and availability through the Easter holiday weekend. The investigators had the power to open up tanks to verify fuel companies' claims that they were empty, she said in an e-mailed statement.
Burney said she had been seeking answers as to why there are shortages of premium gas on Tuesdays, when prices are discounted nationwide. Four hundred people have contacted Fair Trading about supply problems, she said.
"We expect that your premium fuel of choice will become more readily available over the coming weeks," BP said in ads placed in the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Telegraph.
Caltex Australia Ltd, the nation's biggest refiner, said it had unplanned shutdowns at both of its plants. The refiner said on Feb. 22 that the shutdown of a diesel unit at the Kurnell refinery in Sydney for maintenance was expected to end by Easter.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique