More fuel will flow into Australia after a new deal with suppliers, but drivers may still have to wait months for price relief at the bowser.

The federal government’s export agency has struck an agreement with Australia’s two refineries.

The deal will allow more fuel to be imported into the Viva Energy facility in Geelong and the Ampol site in Brisbane.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it would mean areas which had a shortage of petrol and diesel would be able to be prioritised.

“This is not business as usual,” he told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.

“As part of this agreement, of course, the government can direct where that supply goes … going to regional Australia and areas that are under pressure in terms of supply.”

The agreement follows laws rushed through federal parliament allowing the government to underwrite the cost of fuel imports.

“We want to protect taxpayers interest. We want to minimise taxpayers’ exposure,” Albanese said.

“But our first priority, to be very clear, is supply. There is supply available on the spot market, we know that that’s the case. This will enable Ampol and Viva to participate in that market.”

Supply chain experts believe it will take months for fuel to drop anywhere near pre-war prices.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the deal would provide surety for fuel companies as they deal with volatility caused by the Middle East conflict.

“With the oil price moving around, a lot of speculation about what will happen in the Middle East, these purchases become riskier for companies,” he said.

“This arrangement will enable the companies to take a purchase that would have been non-commercial and to go out, and buy that fuel for Australians that otherwise would go to other countries.

“That is very much in our national interest.”

As of Thursday, 216 service stations nationwide have no diesel while 86 have no unleaded petrol.

In NSW, roughly one per cent of the state’s 2400 service stations have no fuel at all.

While there was hope the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through, could reopen for a brief period following a tentative ceasefire, Iran says the passage was closed after fresh Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Even if the strait is reopened in coming days, drivers could still wait months for fuel prices to return to pre-war levels.

Experts and industry insiders told AAP Australian petrol and diesel prices were unlikely to respond straight away if a ceasefire held.

Australian Institute of Petroleum chief executive Malcolm Roberts, who represents major petrol companies including Ampol, BP, Mobil and Viva Energy, said a ceasefire would take some time to flow through supply chains.

“We would caution people from expecting this will have immediate effects on supply or prices in our region,” he said.

If a ceasefire held, petrol and diesel prices would likely begin dropping over coming months as fuel companies sold out of their more expensive fuel, Australian National University supply chain lecturer David Leaney said.

“While that expensive oil is making its way around the world and being refined into fuel with a higher cost, that cost (of petrol and diesel) stays high for a couple of months,” he said.

It comes as Opposition Leader Angus Taylor urged for the federal government to set up a public dashboard of how much fuel was in the nation’s reserves and which service stations had no supply.

“Australians need to be able to judge what the situation is, and we need to know where there’s gaps,” he told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

“You can do these things for a really relatively modest amount.”

Albanese seeks Singapore deal

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew out of Australian on Thursday, hoping talks with his Singaporean counterpart will lead to a boost in domestic fuel supply.

Albanese will have a bilateral meeting with Singapore’s leader Lawrence Wong on Friday.

Trade in petrol and diesel along with energy will feature heavily in discussions, with Singapore the largest supplier of refined petrol to Australia, accounting for more than half its intake.

Albanese said a strengthening of ties with Singapore would be crucial as global oil supplies are impacted by the war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The prime minister said the quickly convened meeting in Singapore spoke to the depths of the ties with the Asian nation.

“We don’t pre-empt one-on-one meetings at leaders levels, but the fact that we have been welcomed at relatively short notice to Singapore speaks about the strength of the relationship,” Albanese said.

As well as the talks with the Singapore prime minister, Albanese will visit Jurong Island, where the city-state has its three oil refineries.

However, production at the facilities has been limited due to most of the oil processed there coming via the Strait of Hormuz.

In March, Albanese and Wong signed a joint statement reaffirming commitments by the two countries to continue trading in energy.

Australia and Israel at odds

Australia is pushing for Lebanon to be included in any Middle East peace deal, prompting a rebuke from the Israeli ambassador.

A dispute over whether Lebanon is included in the temporary ceasefire in the Middle East has prompted Iran to again close the Strait of Hormuz less than a day after promising to open the key trading waterway.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Lebanon must be covered by the deal — a claim vehemently disputed by Israel and the US.

“The Australian government … firmly believes that this has to apply to Lebanon as well,” he told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.

“I know that many Australians are concerned about the events that are occurring in Lebanon.”

Israel says it has carried out its largest wave of strikes against Lebanon since the start of the war, killing at least 250 people, according to local authorities.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said de-escalation in Lebanon was needed to ensure Australia got continued access to oil being shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

“We want the ceasefire to hold,” she told ABC Radio on Thursday.

“We know it’s fragile, we know what it means for the world and we know what it means for Australians at the petrol bowser.”

Asked about Australia’s push for Lebanon to be included in the ceasefire, Israeli ambassador Hillel Newman said his country faced a serious security threat from Hezbollah, a listed terror organisation which operates out of southern Lebanon.

“Since the second of March, they’ve launched more than 5000 rockets and drones against the people of Israel,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“I believe that if Australia was faced with the same threat as we are in the northern part of Israel, they would act the same.”

US President Donald Trump said American ships, aircraft and military personnel would remain in the region until a permanent agreement was struck.

“If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the ‘Shootin’ Starts’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before,” he said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

-AAP