With Australia in the grips of a fuel crisis, questions have been raised about the country’s sovereign capability.
Australia is represented by two large oil refineries – one in Geelong and one in Brisbane – and the small-scale Eromanga refinery in south-west Queensland.
Since 2012, five refineries have closed nationwide, including facilities in Kwinana (WA), Altona (Victoria), Bulwer Island (Queensland), Kurnell and Clyde (both in NSW).
ExxonMobil’s closure of its Altona facility in February 2021, which followed BP’s closure of its Kwinana plant in October 2020, left Australia’s fuel supply, in ABC business reporter Gareth Hutchens’ words, “vulnerable to regional crises”.
This was echoed by Dr Hunter Laidlaw.
“As refineries close, domestic refining capacity and capability reduces and Australia becomes yet more dependent on imports of refined product,” Dr Laidlaw said in a blog post. “Australia’s fuel supply therefore becomes more reliant on industry’s ability to source and ship the necessary fuels when required.”
As consumers take matters into their own hands to evade high fuel prices, prompting surging interest and sales in electric vehicles, the Queensland Government is targeting traditional measures by unlocking the Taroom Trough – a 750km2 oil and gas field in central Queensland.
Shell is already producing 200 barrels of crude oil per day from the province, which is being converted into diesel at the Eromanga refinery.
The Queensland Government has also announced its Taroom Trough Development Plan, which aims to establish a whole-of-basin framework to fast-track development of oil and gas resources in the region.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has directed the Queensland Coordinator-General to gain Governor-in-Council approval for strategic infrastructure delivery and assessment under this initiative.
Further to this, state government is calling for the Taroom Trough to be recognised as a project of national interest, streamlining approvals under the EPBC Act’s fast-track assessment pathway.
If it was to be recognised, it would be an exception the rule, with fossil-fuel projects not able to access this under recent EPBC Act reform.
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