Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in discussions to build Australia’s first new oil refinery in over 60 years, as the government scrambles to address critical fuel security vulnerabilities exposed by Middle East conflicts and supply chain disruptions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The federal government has approached energy companies about investing in a new refinery project estimated to cost between $8-10 billion<\/strong>. Resilient Energy Australia has already pitched an $11 billion diesel-focused facility.<\/p>\n Treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to allocate funding in the upcoming budget for a feasibility study. The $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund<\/strong> will now assess proposals for expanding refining capacity alongside upgrades to existing facilities.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The urgency reflects Australia’s precarious fuel position. The country operates only two refineries, including Ampol’s Lytton facility in Brisbane, while importing 70-80% of refined petrol and diesel<\/strong> from overseas.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Australia’s dependence on imports flowing through the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> has created a strategic chokepoint. When Middle East hostilities erupted in February, Australia was the only International Energy Agency member failing to meet the 90-day fuel reserve benchmark\u2014a breach dating back to 2012.<\/p>\n The government has since boosted petrol reserves from 34 days to 46 days<\/strong> and secured 300 million litres of emergency diesel from South Korea, Malaysia and Brunei.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Recent equipment failures at existing refineries have further highlighted the fragility of Australia’s fuel security architecture. The combination of aging infrastructure, geopolitical tensions, and supply chain vulnerabilities has forced a strategic rethink.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n If approved, the new refinery would mark Australia’s first major expansion of domestic fuel production capacity since the 1960s, representing a significant shift toward energy self-reliance in an increasingly volatile global environment.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in discussions to build Australia’s first new oil refinery in over 60 years, as the government scrambles to address critical fuel security vulnerabilities exposed by Middle East conflicts and supply chain disruptions. The federal government has approached energy companies about investing in a new refinery project estimated to cost between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nBudget allocation expected<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Strategic vulnerability exposed<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Infrastructure failures compound risks<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n