Anthony Albanese says Singapore and Australia are “strategically aligned” on fuel and energy, ahead of his meeting with Lawrence Wong later today.

But the Australian prime minister said the conflict in the Middle East would have “a long tail”, warning of “a difficult period ahead”.

There’s been substantial damage in the Gulf and that will have consequences for a period of at least months ahead.

Albanese will meet his Singaporean counterpart for an annual leaders’ meeting and they will hold a joint press conference this afternoon, after Albanese tours petrol refining facilities on Jurong Island.

Arriving into Singapore last night, Albanese said the two countries were important partners, with Singapore providing around a quarter of Australia’s refined fuels and Australia providing around a third of Singapore’s LNG.

We share values and we share a relationship of trust between each other. And that is why it’s so important that at difficult times in the world we can rely upon each other.

It’s unclear whether Albanese’s meeting will directly secure any new fuel supplies for Australia, but he says the meeting is important to bolster the bilateral relationship.

This is a relationship of trust and of mutual interest as well. We know that it is in both of our countries’ interests to engage with each other to make sure that we are both reliable suppliers.

We have each other’s word and indeed we have each other’s back at this time.