Australia's oil reserves 'dwindling'  

The SMH has a report on Australia's increasing dependence on imported oil, following the release of a report into Australia's energy resources by Geoscience Australia and ABARE (the Australian Energy Resource Assessment) - Australia's oil reserves 'dwindling'.

Australia's oil reserves are dwindling and the nation is becoming increasingly reliant on imports for transport fuels, a new report shows.

The Australian Energy Resource Assessment (AERA) report has been released by Resources Minister Martin Ferguson.

The peak industry body for oil and gas producers says the report into Australia's energy resources has debunked the myth the nation won't have enough energy resources into the future.

But the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) says the report also shows the nation will need to import more oil to run its transport network.

That reliance is likely to increase unless there are new significant discoveries of crude oil or alternatives are made using the development of condensate resources using the offshore gas reserves.

APPEA chief executive Belinda Robinson said in general the report painted a bright picture for the future of the energy industry, citing over $200 million in projects on the drawing board.

Australian oil output may rise 6 percent next fiscal year and liquefied natural gas exports may climb 4 percent, boosted by new projects led by BHP Billiton Ltd. and Woodside Petroleum Ltd., a government forecaster said.

Oil production is expected to jump to 29.5 billion liters, or about 508,000 barrels a day, in the year ending June 30, 2011, on projected increases from BHP’s Pyrenees project and Apache Corp.’s Van Gogh development, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said in a report today. LNG exports may rise to 18 million metric tons, buoyed by Perth- based Woodside’s Pluto venture in Western Australia, it said.

Australia’s total energy exports may increase 20 percent to A$66 billion next fiscal year as a global economic recovery drives oil prices higher, the report said. The average price for the West Texas Intermediate benchmark will gain 25 percent to $77 a barrel in 2010, the Canberra-based bureau forecasts.

“Energy demand is closely linked with economic growth, and in 2010-2011 we are expecting things to rebound,” Alan Copeland, an analyst at ABARE, said by phone today. “When you talk about exports, the numbers paint a fairly positive story.”

Oil production is set to gain 4 percent in 2011-2012, then gradually fall to 25 billion liters three years later, it said. LNG exports may rise at an average annual rate of 9 percent over the following four years and could “increase significantly” after 2014-2015 with first production at Chevron Corp.’s A$43 billion Gorgon venture, ABARE said. Coal-seam gas-to-LNG projects in Queensland state also could add to Australian exports, according to the bureau.