As fuel prices soar, with unleaded reaching levels well over $2 a litre and diesel creeping closer to $3, one expert says we can save money at the pump by how we drive.

Eco-driving is a smart, smooth, and safe driving technique that could lead to fuel savings, Andrew Kirk, the principal technical researcher at Queensland’s peak motoring body RACQ, said.

“There’s lots of things you can do to drive more efficiently,” Kirk said.

“If you do them all, it is possible to save as much as 10 per cent on fuel.”

Kirk said eco-driving was about implementing simple changes – as well as keeping up with vehicle maintenance – so you are driving more efficiently.

These include driving as smoothly as possible, reducing harsh braking and accelerating gently. He also suggested taking the car out of sports mode, and for those who have manual cars, using the right gear for conditions and shifting through gears quickly.

Kirk said when it came to how drivers used their cars, “you don’t get anything for free”.

“Now is the time to be economic,” he said. “Right down to the air-conditioning.”

He said driving with windows open, and not using air-conditioning under speeds of 80km/h to reduce fuel consumption. But, once you’re going faster than 80km/h, the increased drag caused by open windows can have the opposite effect.

“You need to look at how to reduce air drag,” Kirk said.

Removing unnecessary weight from the vehicle, not transporting items on roof racks and removing spoilers could also help reduce fuel consumption, he said.

As will keeping up with vehicle maintenance – such as keeping tyres inflated and wheels in alignment.

“It all adds up,” Kirk said.

“With the costs these days, you can save a fair bit of money. But you can’t be that lead foot – when it comes to driving, be the tortoise, not the hare.”

Last week, there were reports the fuel crisis had already led to an unwelcome increase in abuse of service station workers.

Motor Trades Association interim executive director Peter Jones, who represents independent service stations, said customers desperate for petrol or frustrated with high prices were taking it out on staff behind the counter.

“We’ve had a lot of reports of service station attendants and staff being harassed,” he said on Friday.

“They are not the people that make the price. In rural areas where there is no fuel, whether it be diesel or petrol, emotions are relatively high … we’ve asked for people to be respectful.”

There had also been reports of an increase in fuel siphoning, which involved petrol or diesel being stolen directly from a vehicles’s tank.

“That’s something I haven’t heard of for a long time … it came as a surprise to me,” Jones said.

Smaller, independent service stations the association represented made only a few cents profit on each litre sold, while also dealing with massive wholesale cost increases, he said.

“What somebody might think of as price gouging, it’s just handing on the increase of price or cost to them,” Jones said.

Also last week, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said more fuel could be released from Australia’s national reserve if the crisis in the Middle East continued.

While emphasising there was plenty of fuel available to get through April, Bowen said additional releases from reserves were on the table.

“Fuel suppliers will continue and are locked in and will continue to arrive,” he said.

But beyond late April, the situation was more uncertain and depended on how international events panned out, Bowen said.

Oil prices have soared and global supplies cut after Iran’s de-facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation against US-Israeli strikes.

“We will release more of the strategic fuel reserve if we have to, but only if we have to. It’s there for a rainy day,” Mr Bowen said.

One-fifth of the national reserve of petrol and diesel has already been released from emergency stockpiles, including 500 million litres going into regional areas.

Government subsidies will continue to Australia’s two remaining oil refineries, in Geelong and Brisbane, after six months of negotiations over the payments.

Bowen said only a “very low percentage” of service stations were out of fuel, said after reports of outlets running dry in some regional areas.

“[It’s in the] low single digits, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a real challenge for having trouble getting fuel in rural and regional areas,” he said.

Former Australian Energy Regulator boss Anthea Harris has been appointed to oversee a fuel supply task force.

Elsewhere, the Australia’s consumer watchdog has launched an investigation into major fuel suppliers Ampol, BP Australia and Mobil Oil after allegations of anti-competitive conduct.

-with AAP