Fuel companies are being forced to share data about their supplies and sales in Australia's most populous state, as petrol caps reach city service stations.
Notices demanding a wide range of information have been issued to fuel providers to help form a complete view of NSW's fuel supplies as the Middle East war drags on, Environment Minister Penny Sharpe announced on Friday.
The information would help the state government prepare for the exercise of emergency powers if needed, she said.
“We need a clear picture of the situation to best support people and communities as we navigate the challenges posed by this global conflict," Ms Sharpe said in a statement.
Oil prices have skyrocketed since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February.
The new edict from NSW comes as limits on how much petrol people can buy reaches at least one metropolitan service station.
An employee at a Shell-branded service station on Sydney's northern beaches confirmed to AAP the outlet had implemented a cap of 50 litres per person and banned the filling of jerry cans.
The crisis could also be putting at risk older people relying on home care visits.
Reports of aged care workers not taking up home visit shifts because of rising fuel prices have become more common, advocacy group Ageing Australia said.
Some aged care providers were reporting monthly fuel bill rises of more than half, leaving patients vulnerable, chief executive Tom Symondson said.
"We want to avoid a re-run of the sector’s experience in the early days of COVID, where we saw hospitals and their staff designated as essential services and aged care left to fend for itself," Mr Symondson said.
The United Workers Union argues in-home aged care workers, who travel an average of 260km per week, should be reimbursed by the federal government with fuel vouchers.
"Older Australians are in danger of missing the care they rely on every day," the union's aged care director Catalina Gonzalez said.
"If workers can’t afford the fuel to do their work, older Australians miss medications, go without meals, miss essential wound care, and are left without personal care."
More than 500 service stations were without some kind of fuel on Thursday but more petrol and diesel was flowing to the regions, Energy Minister Chris Bowen told parliament.
Iran has been attacking regional energy infrastructure and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, forcing countries to respond to global fuel supply shortages.
National cabinet will meet to discuss the ongoing fuel crisis on Monday.
The government has insisted Australia has enough fuel and that shortages are being driven by panic buying, which was seen during COVID-19 lockdowns.
However, the panic buying is being driven by a different set of forces than those during the pandemic, one expert says.
Tim Neal, who has researched panic buying at scale, said the behaviour during the pandemic was primarily about future supply concerns from lockdown disruptions.
"With fuel prices, there are supply concerns especially when it comes to diesel," Dr Neal told AAP.
"But what initially started the panic buying was a price motive. People are stocking up because you expect future price increases."
Sudden spikes in demand could quickly outstrip supply, leading to temporary outages, Dr Neal said.
But he said it was too early to determine whether shortages were driven more by supply disruptions or surging demand, but both factors were likely at play.
Efforts to curb panic buying were often limited once it began, Dr Neal said, because the behaviour becomes self-reinforcing.
“All you need for panic buying to be rational is to believe that other people are going to be panicking,” he said.
Tougher penalties for price gouging passed parliament on Thursday afternoon.
Legislation doubling the maximum fine for false and misleading conduct or cartel behaviour to $100 million was given the green light by the Senate, in a bid to deter petrol companies from profiting from the shortages.
