Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title War exposes the shocking truth about the oil beneath our feet - and how Australia sleepwalked into a fuel crisis Degree of recognition International Media name/outlet The Daily Mail Media type Web Country/Territory Australia Date 23/03/26 Description This article examines the origins of Australia's fuel vulnerability, tracing the closure of Port Stanvac, Clyde, Kurnell, Bulwer Island, Kwinana and Altona over fifteen years to leave only Ampol's Lytton and Viva's Geelong facilities operating. Former defence and energy adviser John Blackburn argues that policy decisions across both major parties dismantled Australian fuel resilience, leaving roughly 90 per cent of fuel imported and the supply chain dependent on foreign-flagged vessels, and warns that strain would become visible within two months. Dr Lurion De Mello assesses the consequences as particularly acute for Australia, arguing that genuine shortages become plausible if the Hormuz disruption continues or spreads, and characterising this not as a theoretical scenario but as a foreseeable consequence of failing to build resilience. The piece further examines Australia's domestic resource position, including proven reserves equivalent to roughly four years of consumption, an estimated 2.6 billion barrels of undiscovered oil across Western Australian and Northern Territory basins, and 13.4 billion barrels in oil shale — while noting that much of this is not economically extractable at current prices and technology, with half the undiscovered conventional resource requiring hydraulic fracturing in remote arid regions. Producer/Author Sarah Brookes URL https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15659121/Australia-oil.html Persons Lurion De Mello