Australia Warns of Higher Fuel Prices Amid Middle East Conflict
Listen to the story
Australia's energy minister is Chris Bowen. He says petrol prices may go up again. This is because of a war in the Middle East.
The war is getting worse. Wars can change the price of oil. Oil makes petrol for cars.
Chris Bowen said Australia has a reserve of fuel. This means Australia keeps extra fuel saved. The reserve can last 41 days.
A reserve helps a country if fuel from other places stops coming. Australia buys much of its fuel from other countries.
The government is watching the conflict in the Middle East. A conflict is a big fight between countries or groups.
People in Australia may need to pay more money for petrol soon. This news came from a live update about Australian news today.
Vocabulary15 words
- energy minister
- a government person who works on power, oil, and gas
- prices
- how much money something costs
- reserve
- extra supply saved for later use
- conflict
- a serious fight or disagreement
- Middle East
- an area with countries like Israel, Iran and others
- petrol
- fuel used to make cars run
- government
- the group of people who run a country
- worse
- more bad than before
- oil
- a liquid used to make fuel
- country
- a nation, like Australia
- days
- units of time, like Monday, Tuesday
- buy
- to get something by paying money
- watching
- looking at something carefully over time
- update
- new information about something
Quiz
Answer key
1. Chris Bowen 2. Because of a conflict in the Middle East 3. True
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Australia's energy minister is Chris _____. He says petrol prices may go up again. This is because of a war in the Middle _____.
The war is getting _____. Wars can change the price of _____. Oil makes petrol for cars.
Chris Bowen said Australia has a _____ of fuel. This means Australia keeps extra fuel saved. The reserve can last 41 _____.
A reserve helps a country if fuel from other places _____. Australia buys much of its fuel from other _____.
The government is watching the _____ in the Middle East. A conflict is a big fight between countries or groups.
People in Australia may need to pay more _____ for petrol soon.
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