A new poll reveals that an overwhelming majority of Australians support increasing domestic oil and gas production as ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt global fuel supplies. However, an energy expert has cautioned that simply ramping up drilling will not resolve the underlying crisis.
The Freshwater poll found that 71 per cent of Australians are in favour of producing more fuel at home, with only eight per cent opposed. The support cuts across political lines, with majorities of both Coalition and Labor voters backing the move. Even 57 per cent of Greens voters supported increased domestic production, along with strong backing from younger Australians.
Despite the growing calls to accelerate local oil and gas exploration, John Blackburn, a fellow at the Australian Institute of Energy, said the country needs a much broader strategy. “We’ve been caught out, pretty unprepared for the situation we’re in, and they’re saying, well, hang on, we know we’ve got a lot of gas, why aren’t we using it? Why don’t we look for more oil?” Blackburn said. “That should be on the table as an option.”
While Blackburn acknowledged that searching for more oil on Australian shores should be considered, he warned that increased exploration alone would not protect Australia during a major fuel crisis. “What’s missing in Australia is that overall plan of how do all these pieces in our energy system come together, not just more stocks or just go and get a bit of oil,” he said.
When asked why Australia is not already utilising more of its own resources, the government pointed to mining companies returning licences because operating costs in Australia are too high. Blackburn acknowledged those commercial realities but argued that resilience needs to become a national priority.
He said Australia should pursue a multi-pronged energy strategy that includes renewable fuels, bioenergy, ethanol, gas-to-liquids technology, and domestic oil and gas production. However, he warned that the country’s logistical weaknesses remain a major concern. “Even if we’re producing all this extra stuff ourselves, if we can’t have control of how it’s moved around and shipped, which we don’t have, then we’re not going to achieve too much because you can’t move it by rail in Australia now. We’re down to two refineries, and we have no ships,” he said.
Blackburn is calling for a comprehensive national energy security assessment, noting the last review was conducted 15 years ago under a Labor government. The warning comes as pressure mounts on the federal government over Australia’s heavy reliance on imported fuel, with just four per cent of the nation’s transport fuels currently produced from Australian oil through Australian refineries.
Blackburn said previous decisions to prioritise cheaper imported fuel have left the country exposed. He revealed that in 2015, the Department of Energy told him it did not care that Australia had no refineries because importing refined fuel was cheaper. But he said the current crisis highlights the danger of relying on low-cost imports without considering energy security. “There’s a very high cost to cheap when you’re in a crisis. So it is worth us considering paying that extra amount to make sure we can find more oil and gas that we can control ourselves,” he said. “It’s not necessarily about the cheapest source, it’s about the most resilient source, because without energy we stop.”
