Saturday 4 April 2026
PetrolPulse data powers news.com.au coverage of Easter fuel crisis affecting 325 stations
News.com.au's coverage of the Easter fuel shortage was powered by PetrolPulse's live outage tracker, with our data driving the headline figures, state breakdowns, and fuel type analysis.
Featured in national media
On April 2, news.com.au published a feature story on Easter fuel shortages affecting hundreds of Australian petrol stations. PetrolPulse's live outage tracker powered the story, providing the headline figure of 325 affected stations, the state-by-state breakdown table, and the fuel type analysis. The article included screenshots from the PetrolPulse tracker and linked directly to it as the source for readers to check live outages in their area.
What the data showed
PetrolPulse's tracker identified 325 fuel stations experiencing outages nationally on the Thursday before Easter. New South Wales was hardest hit with 184 affected stations, followed by Queensland with 79 and Victoria with 31. Nearly half of all outages were diesel-related, reflecting the surge in demand from fleet operators, tradies, and farmers responding to the excise cut announcement. Approximately 77 per cent of impacted stations had just one fuel type unavailable, while 23 per cent had multiple outages.
How the tracker works
The PetrolPulse fuel shortage tracker pulls data every 30 minutes from state government fuel reporting systems across Australia. It detects outages through two methods: explicit out-of-stock signals from states that report them (Queensland, South Australia), and staleness detection for states where stations simply stop reporting a fuel type (New South Wales, Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory). The tracker is free, requires no account, and updates automatically.
Check live outages before travelling
If you are travelling this Easter or planning a regional trip, check the live outage map before you leave. Diesel outages remain common on regional corridors. For the cheapest petrol near you and a recommendation on whether to fill up now or wait, check your city's forecast.
Check your city's current forecast to see whether now is the right time to fill up.