Reliant on imported fuel, Pacific islands appeal for help as oil prices surge

Leaders of several Pacific countries have appealed for help with oil supplies while others urged against “panic buying” as import-reliant nations grapple with fears of shortages and rising costs after strikes against energy infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states pushed oil prices to nearly $110 a barrel.

"Pacific island nations are especially vulnerable to fuel supply disruptions and rising costs because [most countries] rely almost entirely on imported fuel," Paul Barker, executive director at the Institute of National Affairs in Papua New Guinea, said. He added that higher fuel costs threaten key industries such as tourism and "make delivering basic government services to remote islands increasingly difficult." In Samoa, where about two-thirds of the country’s energy generation comes from imported diesel fuel, the prime minister, La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt, said he had asked New Zealand’s leader if it was possible to divert fuel to his country in case of crisis.

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