By an OGJ Online Correspondent
HOBART, Australia, Apr. 9 -- Australia has become dangerously complacent about future needs for reliable supplies of competitively priced energy, said Barry Jones, executive director of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.
Speaking before the group's annual conference, Jones said Australian politicians have yet to provide significant encouragement to exploration. He said despite industry warnings, the government has not streamlined development permitting or access to acreage, reformed the tax system, or funded oil reserves studies.
He said a policy promoting competition would not provide long-term energy security. "Buying petrol from Asia does not solve any of the issues that all governments need to address. Political leaders need to ask themselves: What Australian assets will be sold to buy petrol from overseas when domestic production falls in the next few years?"
Jones said one solution would be to encourage frontier exploration, but that would require reform in the approvals system and the fiscal regime. Another would be to promote existing gas resources, but that means more LNG plants, gas-to-liquids facilities, and construction of a comprehensive gas supply infrastructure.
Jones said Australian oil production is 600,000 b/d but will drop to at least 313,000 b/d in 10 years, and possibly as low as 132,000 b/d unless more discoveries are made.
He said the slow pace of exploration permit approvals has added risk to projects and agencies should consider permits in parallel, not in sequence, to reduce delays. And he said agencies should use scientifically objective and transparent decision-making processes.