“Never again should we be left without the ability to generate domestic fuel supply. This is a generational opportunity to ensure we’re not left at the end of a global supply chain,” said Premier David Crisafulli.
He will launch the call to Canberra with Minister for Mines and Natural Resources Dale Last on Wednesday from an exploration site in the region held by oil and gas powerhouse Shell.
The Taroom Trough lies close to existing energy infrastructure.
The bold request from the Crisafulli government for Canberra to allow a national interest exemption under the EPBC Act comes just days after Queensland momentarily held out on a GST deal that would deliver further cuts to fuel prices.
The state backed down on its opposition to the deal, allowing further relief to flow through to motorists after Treasurer Jim Chalmers urged the states not to bicker over the issue.
Crisafulli signalled his desire to expedite oil exploration at Taroom Trough after a national cabinet meeting last week to discuss the fuel crisis.
“Prior to all this starting, we issued the first opportunity for exploration in this country since the 1970s and the early results are overwhelmingly positive,” Crisafulli said.
“And I think this entire saga at the moment can provide the impetus to take that from concept to delivery.”
Bowen non-committal
Asked on Monday about fast-tracking oil projects, federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said new projects must go through all the necessary processes.
“Well, any new project takes a lot of time, a lot of time – from conception to final investment decision, and environmental planning is just part of it, you’ve got the entire investment decision,” Bowen said.
“So you are talking years for these sorts of things, and I think that’s important.”
Shell, the biggest company exploring in what is the country’s hottest oil exploration play, already produces about 200 barrels a day of high-quality crude from its acreage. It is trucked to a small-scale refinery in south-west Queensland for processing into diesel.
But federal EPBC approval is required to scale up production.
Shell has until now been secretive about what it has found in its drilling, which has fuelled growing excitement about the Trough and drawn comparisons to the early days of Queensland’s coal seam gas boom.
Read more on the Australian fuel crisis
While drilling by others remains at an earlier stage, efforts to commercialise the unconventional oil and gas in the Trough, which forms part of the Bowen Basin, have intensified as national anxiety grows over the country’s dependence on fuel imports.
Several smaller explorers have also secured interests in the area, including Omega Oil and Gas, backed by billionaire Trevor Flannery, and Elixir Energy. Mid-cap producer Beach Energy, whose biggest shareholder is Kerry Stokes’ SGH, has also elbowed in.
Minister Last said the state government was committed to helping Australia’s first new oil production in decades reach the market “without delay”.
“My message to the explorers is simple – I’ll sign, you drill,” he said.
“We’ll play our part, but we’re asking the federal government to play their part under the National Interest Assessment Pathway.”
MST Marquee has estimated that the Taroom Trough could provide up to one-quarter of Australia’s liquid fuel needs.
