Where Does Australia Get Its Oil?

From iron ore to grass-fed beef, Australia has no shortage of lucrative industries. Though when it comes to oil the country has alarmingly low stockpiles. According to experts, escalating conflict in the Middle East could cripple overseas supply chains and see Australia run out of oil in as little as 43 days.

The danger stems largely from an innate dependence on international imports. Australia sources most of its refined petroleum products from Singapore, which imports around 80% of supplies from the Middle East. As a result, Australia has next to no oil independency. This could severely impact the national economy and threaten the country's energy security.

Australia accused of not taking energy security seriously

While mandates laid out by the International Energy Agency rule that countries must hold reserve oil stocks equivalent to 90 days of net imports, The Australian recently published a story predicting that a major US strike on Syria could disrupt the global supply chain and leave the country with a meagre 43-day supply. Dr Malcolm Davis, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute warns that reserves could be ever lower than originally thought, putting forward a 20-day timeframe if supplies were unexpectedly cut off.

"[Australia is] one of the few countries in the world that does not take our energy security seriously" he says. "It would be a Mad Max world. Our society and our economy would begin to fall apart very quickly... [because] everything depends on fuel to make an economy run."

US strikes on Syria threaten global oil supply

The issue was bought to the table in the wake of major US strikes on Syria's Assad regime. Escalating tensions are putting international trade at risk, which could trigger major upsets for the Middle Eastern oil industry. Davis warns that the knock-on effect could eventually reach Australia in the form of a national oil crisis.

The government has received fierce criticism for this "passive" approach, with Liberal Senator Jim Molan labelling it "a single point of failure for Australia. He warns that not only would a chronic oil shortage devastate Australia's economy, but it would also immobilise the military.

While supply is a looming issue for Australia, safety is also a top priority. Spotlighting the latest SLB-ILD3606 technology, 'Resolve Benzene, Other Aromatics, and Oxygenates in Reformulated Gasoline' offers an overview of how carcinogens are detected during the production process.