If the fuel excise cut is not extended, average petrol prices in Australia will almost certainly return to the above $2 territory by early October. But a different solution is needed.
- Honorary Fellow, The University of Queensland
Proposals to cut Australia’s fuel excise will prolong an already alarming dependence on oil-based imports and undermine policies to shift the nation away from fossil fuels.
Unlike with petrol prices, Australian gas consumers are largely insulated from international volatility.
Australia may not import crude oil or petrol from Russia. But the world oil market behaves as one great pool.
UPDATED ON TUESDAY 22 JULY: See editor’s note below for details on the updates. In this year’s federal budget, the Abbott government moved to restart automatically increasing the fuel excise in line with…
In his budget announcement, treasurer Joe Hockey has indicated that the government will increase the fuel excise in line with inflation twice each year. The excise, currently 38.143 cents per litre, has…
The ongoing standoff between Russia and Ukraine has exacerbated Europe’s vulnerability caused by its reliance on Russian gas. The situation has locked the two nations into a dispute over paying for gas…
It might sound unlikely, but Australia’s fuel gauge is worryingly low. We’re one of the world’s top energy exporters, but our stocks of liquid fuels – such as the oil on which almost the whole transport…
Declining commodity prices and high production costs are hampering investment in the mining industry, with new figures revealing big decreases in planned projects. The value of projects in the “publicly…
Japan has announced it is significantly reducing its greenhouse gas reduction target. It now aims to achieve a 3.8% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 versus 2005 levels. The new target amounts to…
“I’ve yet to see any evidence that we have a [gas] supply crisis in Australia at all.” – Australian Greens’ leader Christine Milne, Fairfax Google+ hangout, 26 August. The Greens’ leader Christine Milne…
Australia may have over 1000 trillion cubic feet in undiscovered shale gas resource but the enormous cost of infrastructure needed to extract it may outweigh its economic benefit unless shale gas prices…
Recent data shows Japan posted a record high trade deficit of ¥6.93tn (A$73.16bn) in 2012. Japan is struggling with rising imports as it tries to replace the energy lost when it shut down of most of its…
Earlier this week, Linc Energy released two reports estimating the amount of oil in the Arckaringa Basin near Coober Pedy in South Australia. Independent reports from Gustavson Associates and DeGolyer…
The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer by about 2017 and will become a net oil exporter by 2030, the International Energy Agency (IEA) [recently predicted](http://iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/English.pdf](http://iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/English.pdf…
Last week, Caltex decided to close its Kurnell refinery in Sydney. This closure follows a recent decision by Shell to close its refinery at Clyde in Sydney and it will leave the city without any oil refineries…
For all the talk about Australia’s resource and energy riches and the country’s economy riding the waves of a resource boom, one facet of the country’s energy situation has largely been under the radar…
The looming closure of three Australian refineries will affect the security of liquid fuel supplies in Australia. This is particularly so if the government and the oil industry do not devise a joint strategy…
The European Union (EU) voted last week to ban oil imports from Iran. The EU will immediately ban the signing of any new oil contracts with Iran, while the existing ones will be fulfilled up to 1 July…
Last week the European Union indicated that it is likely to enact an oil embargo on Iran. The move is aimed at damaging Iran’s crucial oil export business enough so the country’s regime curtails its nuclear…
Earlier this week, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard indicated she wants to reverse the ban on selling uranium to India. India’s government has welcomed the idea. Australia has close to 40% of…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard last week used the example of Spain to indicate how Australia’s energy mix could be transformed. The potential for this transformation is nothing more than wishful thinking…
Oil is a finite and non-renewable resource. Its production is going to peak. “Peak oil” is the point at which half of the world’s original endowment of oil has been extracted. This is the point at which…
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