The remote Pacific island nations are already feeling the brunt of the international fuel crisis, and as authorities struggle to manage energy supplies, residents are struggling to cope with fuel restrictions, higher food prices and limited access to healthcare, Reuters reports.
The US-Israeli war with Iran is far from over, and the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for Gulf oil, remains closed. This means that about 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas are missing.
Aid agencies have warned that the crisis in Papua New Guinea has caused diesel, petrol and kerosene prices to rise by as much as 70% since the start of the war in Iran. Godfrey Bongomin, World Vision’s Papua New Guinea operations manager, said many communities that rely on motorboats for transportation were already struggling to get food to remote areas. He added that there were people who could not afford to travel to health facilities, which meant they were missing out on medical care and life-saving HIV and tuberculosis medications.
The International Finance Corporation warned in 2024 that Pacific island nations were the world’s most dependent on diesel for electricity. Data from Zero Carbon Analytics showed that in 2022, island nations generated more than half of their electricity from diesel generators. Fiji was the only exception.
In 2025, Pacific nations imported about 2.2 million tons of various types of fuel.
Kpler data shows that the main oil exporters were Singapore and South Korea. In the first half of April this year, fuel imports reached only a quarter of the total in March.
The crisis in Papua New Guinea, where almost 40% of the population lives below the national poverty line, points to a broader trend across Pacific island nations. They are extremely dependent on imported fuel, and on sea and air transport.
Abdul Abiad, deputy chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, said that even if the ceasefire holds, it will take some time for prices to fall, and there will be many painful moments.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said last week, when asked about China’s responsibility to Pacific nations, where it has significant influence, that China is ready to maintain communication with all parties involved and work to support international energy security.
Representatives of the Catholic charity Caritas Internationalis have pointed out that the crisis is affecting household budgets in various ways – with higher transport costs, food prices and other basic necessities. Low-income families are feeling the most.
Last week,
the Pacific Islands Forum agreed for the first time since the pandemic to apply the region’s emergency response mechanisms.
The people of Kiribati are facing difficulties in getting to schools, work and doctors. A state of emergency has been declared in both Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. In the Cook Islands, Nauru and Papua New Guinea, governments have decided to subsidize fuel prices or introduce price caps. The governments have also called on citizens not to accumulate unnecessary savings and not to panic.
Fijian ministers have agreed to a 20% salary cut that could help cover fuel cost compensation, but this still needs to be approved by parliament.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, during a visit to Washington in April, called on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider providing fuel to Pacific island nations. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia was looking at ways to help, but domestic supplies were the top priority.
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