Australia is drifting aimlessly when it comes to defining new energy policy priorities.
Australia is running out of cheaply produced oil and policy makers are not looking forward.
They are not asking themselves whether Australia will continue to import 65 per cent of the fuel needed as refinery feedstock, as global demand grows and finding oil becomes more and more costly.
Petroleum production is declining in the countries from which Australia is currently importing and the Middle East is where most of the world’s reserves of oil will be found in 10 to 15 years’ time.
A growing gap between demand and domestic production is emerging in Australia, and unless governments become more serious about focusing on future supplies, they will fail to ensure that energy customers have reliable and competitively priced fuel sources in the long term.