• Why do Australian refineries use imported crude oil?
  • In general, it is more commercially attractive to use a majority of imported crude oils in Australian refineries to meet the balance of transport fuels needed by Australian fuel users, and this imported crude diet better matches Australian refinery processing capabilities.
  • What is an oil refinery?
  • An oil refinery is an organised and coordinated arrangement of manufacturing processes designed to produce physical and chemical changes in crude oil to convert it into everyday products like petrol, diesel, lubricating oil, fuel oil and bitumen.
  • What happens if a refinery closes in Australia?
  • As Australian refineries operate largely on imported crudes, any Australian refinery closure will mean a substitution of crude oil imports with imports of finished petroleum product. There is no significant difference in the supply risk between a crude and petroleum product shipment.
  • What if a refinery was built in Australia?
  • Even with the construction of such a domestic refinery, bulk fuel products produced by the refinery would still need to be shipped around Australian to major demand centres and in the event of refinery disruption (planned or unplanned) there would still be a need to import refined products.
  • What will reduce Australian crude oil production & refining capacity mean?
  • Reductions in Australian crude oil production and refining capacity mean that more of our transport fuel demand growth will be met by imports largely from the Asian region (where excess supply capacity exists and is forecast to continue).
  • How much does a large scale refinery cost in Australia?
  • In the context of Australia¡¯s demonstrated efficient and reliable access to large scale refineries in Asia (and excess Asian supply currently and forecast), it is difficult to see any case for the very significant cost of a taxpayer funded refinery (eg. at least US$5 billion for a minimum efficient scale refinery).