Australia needs to kick its diesel habit – and a timetable to electrify machines that run on imported oil

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 02:20:55 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-needs-to-kick-its-diesel-habit-and-a-timetable-to-electrify-machines-that-run-on-imported-oil/>

"The Australian economy still runs on imported oil.

Despite being one of the world’s largest exporters of energy, Australia imports
around 90 per cent of its refined transport fuel. The country now has just two
operating oil refineries, capable of processing about 230,000 barrels of crude
a day – only a fraction of national fuel demand.

Australia spends tens of billions of dollars every year importing oil and
refined fuels – money that could instead be invested in domestic energy
infrastructure.

In effect, a large part of the Australian economy depends on oil extracted in
politically unstable regions and transported through some of the most
vulnerable maritime chokepoints on the planet.

Much of the oil refined in South-East Asia ultimately comes from the Middle
East. Around one fifth of global oil supply passes through the Strait of
Hormuz.

But we know all this. The latest conflict in the Middle East dominates our
media and we are worrying about our oil stockpiles. The question is: what are
we going to do about our dependency on imported fuel?"

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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