The Australian government will take on the financial risk of importing essential products affected by the war in the Middle East to get additional supplies of petrol, diesel, and fertiliser into the country.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the new fuel security powers on Saturday after a month of soaring diesel and petrol prices and widespread shortages at service stations, particularly in regional Australia.

The government will introduce amendments to Australia’s export finance laws on Monday that will allow the government to use public funds to underwrite the purchase of additional shiploads of fuel, fertiliser, and “other essentials”.

“Put simply, we will use Export Finance Australia to underwrite the purchase of shiploads of fuel that will add to supply here in Australia,” Albanese said at a press conference in Sydney.

“This support from the government will not be business as usual: it has to be additional supplies that are available on the international market.”

Albanese said the measures would give importers the confidence to secure extra supply including from “additional and discretionary cargoes”, by mitigating the financial risk.

He said the additional fuel could be used to service “uncontracted demand” to assist independent distributors, who supply much of regional Australia and often buy petrol and diesel on the wholesale market.

Independent distributors have reported struggling to get enough supply from the major companies that import most of the country’s petrol and diesel, leaving some service stations dry.

“We want more fuel here, and we want to make sure it gets to the right place as well,” Albanese said.

More details soon …