Australia has about 0.3 per cent of the world oil reserves. Most of Australia's known remaining oil resources are condensate and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) associated with giant offshore gas fields in the Browse, Carnarvon and Bonaparte basins.
Oil Reserves in Australia
Australia holds 1,193,000,000 barrels of proven oil reserves as of 2016, ranking 38th in the world and accounting for about 0.1% of the world's total oil reserves of 1,650,585,140,000 barrels. Australia has proven reserves equivalent to 2.9 times its annual consumption.
Australia is a net importer of oil and imports a large proportion of its refinery feedstocks. Most of Australia's oil is produced on the North West Shelf, some distance from domestic east coast refining capacity.
“There's an estimate that Australia has known reserves – so there could be stuff we don't know about – of about a billion barrels, which is about a thousand days' worth. “They're untapped, so we're not pulling it out of the ground as much as we could.”
Domestic crude production has been in decline for some time and Australia does not produce enough compatible crude oil to run existing domestic refineries. Most crude oil production is located long distances from Australian refineries and has better transport proximity to key Asian markets.
Australia is almost entirely reliant on overseas imports for its fuel. Although we do produce some crude oil here, around 350 barrels a day at last count, much of this is exported. Around 90% of what Australian refineries use to convert crude oil into petrol, diesel, LPG and other fuels is imported.
Indeed, Australia is a hydrocarbon-rich nation. Consequently, both oil and gas have played a key role in satisfying the country's energy needs.
Jackson oil field is the largest onshore oil field in Australia. It is in Durham, Shire of Bulloo in southwestern Queensland, approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) west of Thargomindah. Jackson oil plant is an oil processing facility near the field.
Thanks to the shale oil boom, the US is now sitting on more oil reserves than Russia, which estimates as having 256 billion barrels of untapped oil. The next-richest countries in terms of oil after that are: Saud Arabia (212 billion), Canada (167 billion), Iran (143 billion) and Brazil (120 billion).
Venezuela - 303.806 Billion Barrels
Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves globally, with over 300 billion barrels mainly located in the Orinoco Belt at the southern end of the eastern Orinoco River Basin.
How far away is your market? Wood Mackenzie currently estimate Australia's commercial reserves at 2.0 billion barrels of oil and condensate, and 49.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. At current rates of consumption this equates to nine years of liquids reserves and 38 years for gas reserves.
Australia relies on imports - about 90 per cent - for the majority of its petrol supply. We do produce some crude oil domestically - about 350 barrels per day - however, the majority of this is exported.
In area, the onshore part of the Carnarvon Basin covers about 115,000 km² and the offshore part covers approximately 535,000 km² with water depths up to 3,500 m.
From 1 July 2023, the Minimum Stockholding Obligation will require Australia's 2 refineries, and our major importers of refined fuels, to hold baseline stocks of: petrol; 24 days, increasing to 27 days in 2024 for importers. diesel fuel; 20 days, increasing to 32 in 2024 for importers.
Australia is one of the world's leading producers of bauxite (aluminium ore), iron ore, lithium, gold, lead, diamond, rare earth elements, uranium, and zinc. Australia also has large mineral sand deposits of ilmenite, zircon and rutile.
Commercial mining in Antarctica is prohibited. Consequently, no significant mineral deposits or oil reserves have been identified, although minor occurrences of minerals have been identified from across the continent and oil has been suggested to lie offshore.
Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Canada are the three leading countries with the most oil reserves. Industry leader BP plc estimates that there are 1.73 trillion barrels of oil reserves globally. Approximately 80% of the world's oil reserves are in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
World Oil Reserves
The world has proven reserves equivalent to 46.6 times its annual consumption levels. This means it has about 47 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
Lightest, Low-Sulfur, Low Tan Crude Oil Deposits in the World. The best crude oil in the world is found in Malaysia. “Tapis, the Malaysian crude benchmark traded in Singapore, has for a long time held the title of the world's most expensive grade.
Australia Oil Rig Count is at a current level of 5.00, up from 4.00 last month and down from 7.00 one year ago. This is a change of 25.00% from last month and -28.57% from one year ago.
Current sanctions
Australia has prohibited the import, purchase or transport of Russian oil, gas, refined petroleum products and coal since 25 April 2022. Under Australian sanctions law: the import, purchase or transport of an import sanctioned good; and.
The world's largest oil field, Saudi Arabia's Ghawar Field, for instance, produces around 4 million barrels of oil per day, accounting for well over 1/3 of Saudi Arabia's total production.
Australia has plentiful supplies of natural resources, including the second largest accessible reserves of iron ore in the world, the fifth largest reserves of coal and significant gas resources. For a long time, commodities have made up a sizeable share of our exports.
Years of rampaging property prices have made Australians the richest country in the world, but a world of pain could also be in store if global economics take a turn for the worse.
On a mean wealth basis, Australia was the fourth-richest country in 2021 behind Switzerland, the US and Hong Kong. The average Australian adult was worth $US550,110 at the end of last year, after enjoying a $US66,350 annual increase in wealth.