One chart exposes Australia’s energy vulnerability
Advertisement
By international standards, Australia holds very low fuel reserves—often around 30 days of petrol, diesel, and jet fuel—and relies on imports for around 90% of refined fuels.
Australia’s fuel storage levels breach the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) requirement that members must hold 90 days of net oil imports:

With only two refineries left, Australia also has limited ability to refine crude oil domestically. This means that if imports of refined fuel stop, Australia cannot quickly switch to refining its own crude.
Advertisement
The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers
Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe
About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.