Does Albanese's idea for more Australian oil supplies stack up? (www.sbs.com.au)

submitted 1 day ago by okwithmydecay@leminal.space to c/australianpolitics@aussie.zone

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The federal government will spend $4 million on a study to see if it can build a new oil refinery in Western Australia, which could be the nation's first such new facility in six decades.

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[-] MisterFrog@aussie.zone 8 points 1 day ago

If only we hadn't bloody allowed the ones we already had to be closed... They should have been forcibly nationalised at a fair (low) price if they wanted to close up shop.

Especially the refinery owned by Viva Energy in Geelong should have been nationalised, not had their profits guaranteed...

I say all this as someone who doesn't drive, and I thinks we should get off oil ASAP. We can't just flip the switch and have everything grind to a halt.

But building a NEW refinery? Are you serious?

[-] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

Even in an ideal world where every Australian commuter vehicle is an EV, we would still need our own ability to process and refine oil into aviation fuel, diesel for farming/trucking, and probably a few other vital resources that I’m forgetting.

But I broadly agree with you, if we are to build another - it needs to be a national asset and not a private one; so that works to ensure our energy sovereignty as much as possible, and not shareholder profits.

[-] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 0 points 1 day ago

Even in an ideal world where every Australian commuter vehicle is an EV, we would still need our own ability to process and refine oil into aviation fuel, diesel for farming/trucking, and probably a few other vital resources that I’m forgetting.

yep but if everyone in Australia had an EV our current 3 months worth of fuel supplies would be like 12 months+

At what point is keeping unprofitable fuel processing for a minority of users a waste of tax payer money?

[-] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

I don’t think every Government enterprise needs to be “profitable”; an investment in national security, energy independence and price stability can be subsidised by tax-payers to provide us the ability to absorb global price shocks.

The facility can be run on a skeleton crew normally, providing a reliable base-load volume while having the ability to ramp up refining volumes as circumstances require.

It’s the same way I feel about our desalination plant in Victoria. Having the plant available on stand-by for the upcoming super el-niño event leaves us in a much better position than not.

[-] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The facility can be run on a skeleton crew normally, providing a reliable base-load volume while having the ability to ramp up refining volumes as circumstances require.

But then what's the point of the fuel supplies and secondly why aren't the businesses themselves keeping their own stock piles?

Why should I, EV driver, full kitted out house with Solar+Battery+Heat Pump+EV have to subsidise people and companies who refuse to electrify and instead rely on recycled dinosaur bones?

[-] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

I too have Solar & Battery, with an EV landing in October. I believe we should electrify as much of our infrastructure using green energy as possible. But I’m also old and wise enough to know that not everything can be.

We wouldn’t be doing this to be “subsidising” individual ICE use, but rather to ensure that industries that can’t readily electrify - such as farms still having diesel for their tractors, harvesters, combines to keep growing our food; for commercial trucks to be able to transport these critical goods across our great wide nation; to keep planes in the air, connecting us to the rest of the world; for national security, ensuring that when hostilities escalate overseas, we will be able to keep the wheels turning.

When times are plentiful, we can run these operations at a minimal loss and enable us to ramp up production profitably from private parties when times get tough - while ensuring that critical and emergency services have the necessary fuel to operate.

[-] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I too have Solar & Battery, with an EV landing in October.

Good man 💪

We wouldn’t be doing this to be “subsidising” individual ICE use, but rather to ensure that industries that can’t readily electrify - such as farms still having diesel for their tractors, harvesters, combines to keep growing our food; for commercial trucks to be able to transport these critical goods across our great wide nation; to keep planes in the air, connecting us to the rest of the world; for national security, ensuring that when hostilities escalate overseas, we will be able to keep the wheels turning.

Yeah I'm saying if we have 12 months worth of fuel reserves for these purposes since the overwhelming majority of cars are EV's what's the point of having our own refining? it's just pouring money down the drain waiting for an exceptional black swan that will likely never come

Also all of those things, from tractors, harvesters, combines etc should be moving towards electric, planes are moving towards Sustainable Aviation Fuel

tbh if the only people still relying on oil in 10-20 years time is planes and some old farm equipment it would surprise me if 90 days of fuel reserves wasn't enough anyway