Oil prices and energy prices remain at the centre of government action after the conflict involving Iran and the wider Middle East disrupted flows through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed crude markets sharply higher.
The International Energy Agency said on 11 March that its 32 member countries had agreed the largest emergency oil stock release in the agency’s history, making 400 million barrels available to the market.
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The IEA’s March market report said the conflict had disrupted close to 20 million barrels a day of crude and product exports, showing why fuel prices and energy security have become urgent policy issues well beyond the region.
Stock releases lead the first response
The first line of response has been emergency supply. The IEA said the collective release was designed to address oil market disruption stemming from the Middle East war. It described the move as an unprecedented collective action, with the aim of limiting price volatility and easing pressure on global supply chains.
The UK joined that action on 11 March. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said Britain would contribute 13.5 million barrels as part of the IEA release, with ministers arguing that this should help prevent short-term supply shocks from feeding into more volatile oil prices.
In Canada, Natural Resources Canada said on 13 March that Ottawa would support the same collective action with 23.6 million Canadian barrels and expand natural gas exports in the coming months to support market stability.
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By GlobalDataAustralia has taken a different but related route. Canberra said it would release up to 20 per cent of the baseline minimum stockholding obligation for petrol and diesel to ease fuel supply chain disruption, especially in regional areas.
Minister Chris Bowen later said that amounted to 762 million litres of petrol and diesel, after demand surged following the bombing of Iran. Australia also said it would publish weekly stock data temporarily to improve market transparency during the disruption.
Regulators focus on petrol prices
A second strand of policy is closer scrutiny of petrol prices and retail fuel behaviour. In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority said on 12 March that it would step up monitoring of petrol and diesel prices and bring forward formal requirements for major fuel retailers to supply revenue, cost and sales data.
The watchdog said this would speed up its review of fuel margins since the conflict began and help it test whether pump prices were rising faster than wholesale costs.
The UK government widened that approach on 16 March by announcing more than £50 million of support for low-income households that heat their homes with oil. HM Treasury said kerosene prices had been especially affected by the Middle East conflict and had risen faster than petrol and gas.
The package also signalled a tougher regulatory approach to the heating oil market, including stronger consumer protections, a faster examination of the sector by the CMA, and possible new ombudsman or regulator powers.
Australia has also tied consumer protection to fuel affordability. A joint ministerial release on 11 March said the government would increase surveillance of the fuel sector, double penalties for false or misleading conduct and cartel behaviour, and require the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to report weekly on fuel price movements, with a focus on unusual spikes.
That move reflects a wider concern seen across several countries: the risk that a genuine crude oil shock can be amplified by retail pricing behaviour.
Supply rules are changing
Several governments are also changing market rules to keep physical fuel moving. Australia said on 12 March that it would temporarily amend fuel quality standards for 60 days to allow higher sulphur levels, a step it said would add about 100 million litres a month of petrol supply that would otherwise have been exported.
The government said the change was meant to support supply in shortage areas and put downward pressure on prices.
The UK has focused more on resilience and consumer exposure. In its 6 March factsheet on Iran and UK energy, the government said Britain’s gas supply would not be disrupted and noted that only about 1 per cent of UK gas supply in 2025 came from Qatar.
That statement matters for businesses because it shows the current UK concern is less about physical shortage of gas and more about the way global fossil fuel markets can feed into fuel prices, heating oil costs and wider inflation risk.
Across the wider market, the latest price signals explain why these interventions have accelerated. Reuters reported on 16 March that Brent crude had moved above $100 a barrel as the oil shock deepened, while the IEA has said reopening regular transit through the Strait of Hormuz remains the key condition for lasting stability.
In practical terms, that means most governments are now working on two tracks at once: short-term supply protection through stock releases or rule changes, and short-term price control through monitoring, support payments and stronger oversight of fuel markets.
For companies that buy fuel, transport goods or manage energy-intensive operations, the policy picture is now clearer. Governments are not relying on one tool.
They are combining emergency reserves, fuel quality waivers, tighter market surveillance and targeted household support to limit the pass-through from Middle East disruption to domestic petrol prices and energy prices.
That mix is likely to remain in place while oil flows through the Gulf stay constrained and the Strait of Hormuz remains a live risk to global energy markets.
