Town's only unleaded service station cuts fuel supply over rising costs

In short:

The only unleaded fuel provider in the north-west Victorian town of Birchip has left locals without petrol for almost a month.

The owner says he is not making enough money from fuel sales.

What's next?

The owner has ordered one more shipment of fuel after questions from the ABC but says he is unsure if future orders will be "sustainable".

For almost a month, the north-west Victorian town of Birchip has been without unleaded petrol, after the community's only pumps were left to run dry.

The Birchip Motel and Caravan Park was the sole supplier of unleaded fuel to the farming town of about 700 residents, 100 kilometres north-east of Horsham.

For more than three weeks, its owner declined to order unleaded fuel, forcing residents to drive 30 to 40 kilometres to neighbouring towns to fill up.

The motel has also discontinued its diesel offering.

Elsewhere in town, there are two self-serve diesel pumps, but only one of those stations has a regular nozzle, required for filling medium and small cars.

'We had no choice'

After questions from the ABC, owner Sarathi Muthukrishnan committed to delivering at least one more shipment of unleaded petrol.

"We have placed an order for ULP to be delivered … so that we can continue servicing the community in the immediate term," Mr Muthukrishnan said.

"However, I am honestly not sure whether we will be able to continue doing this on an ongoing basis if the current cost pressures remain."

Mr Muthukrishnan bought the business a year ago and said the decision to cut unleaded fuel was due to increasing costs.

"Earlier this year, when we had no choice but to increase our retail fuel prices in Birchip to reflect the higher wholesale costs, a number of customers chose to stop purchasing fuel from us," Mr Muthukrishnan said.

"We completely understand that everyone is feeling the pressure of rising costs; however, this had a significant impact on our sales.

"As a small business, we have been struggling to cover the increasing cost of fuel together with the day-to-day expenses of operating the site."

'Its very cruel'

Pensioner Maureen Donnellon, 79, said the lack of fuel was restricting her ability to leave her home and get to appointments.

"It feels like COVID-19 all over again, that horrible restriction of movement," Ms Donnellon said.

"It's very cruel, really.

Ms Donnellan said the town's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) also relied on unleaded fuel.

"We don't have an ambulance," Ms Donnellon said.

"Our CERT car runs on petrol and our community car, which takes people to appointments, is also on petrol.

"With fire season coming, [some] mowers and whipper snippers rely on petrol. The fire danger is going to be huge."

Ambulance Victoria said it was investigating options to minimise any impact of fuel availability on the community emergency response for Birchip and surrounds.

'It's definitely not safe'

Resident Gillian Flett said the lack of unleaded fuel created a safety risk.

"It's definitely not safe because the nearest fuel is 30 kilometres away," Ms Flett said.

"If you haven't got enough to leave town, then it's a real problem."

Retail assistant Emily Hotker said she exclusively bought diesel from the motel for her sedan and would now have to find an alternative option.

"For [unleaded drivers] who live out of town or on a farm, a lot of people wouldn't be able to get to work," Ms Hotker said.

'We will have to help our locals'

Buloke Council Shire Mayor Graeme Milne said he was disappointed in the prolonged outage.

He said council was exploring alternative options.

"To buy into a business in town and then cut off the only fuel supply available for unleaded fuel is, to me, very disappointing,"Mr Milne said.

"If they can't guarantee that they're going to play the game and supply fuel on a regular basis, then we will have to help our locals find another alternative."