Page 962 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 29 March 2011
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like global supply-demand of crude oil and petroleum products, peak oil, supply security, and supply chain reliability and flexibility into and within Australia.
According to the federal department:
The Liquid Fuel Vulnerability Assessment provides a current and forecast assessment of Australia's level of vulnerability to disruptions and/or heightened risks to the supply of liquid transport fuel, both in the short and longer term. It provides a clear and coherent explanation of demand and supply side risks impacting on Australia’s liquid fuel availability, identify critical issues affecting the level of liquid fuel vulnerability and assess the current and future level of liquid fuel vulnerability up until 2020.
The vulnerability assessment will be utilised by the Australian Government to inform future policy developments in regards to Australia’s broader energy security considerations. It has directly contributed to the Australian Government’s National Energy Security Assessment (NESA) in respect to matters relating to liquid fuels.
The Liquid Fuel Vulnerability Assessment will also be utilised by NOSEC for establishing and implementing appropriate management frameworks to support an efficient and effective response to a national liquid fuel emergency.
The report found:
Despite a growing dependence on imported sources of oil and refined petroleum products, adequacy in terms of suppliers being able to keep up with demand has generally been maintained. This is likely to continue, although capacity constraints in global oil infrastructure may see continued upward pressure on prices …
Affordability on an individual and household level has deteriorated. However, if affordability is defined in terms of maintaining international competitiveness then, given that oil and refined petroleum products are commodity products traded on international markets, it is unlikely affordability has deteriorated since 2004 and is unlikely to change in the period leading up to 2020.
So you can see that a considerable body of detailed policy work is already occurring at a national level in conjunction with states and territories looking at our vulnerabilities to liquid fuel supplies and vulnerabilities in the supply chain. Significant work is being undertaken to make sure Australia is prepared to manage any short-term disruption to liquid fuel supplies.
There is, however, the broader question—how we build and design our cities, and our transport systems and our supply systems to manage the emergence of peak oil and the demands and economic costs that that will place on our society and our economy. At an ACT level, significant work is already being done in this regard. Through the ACT Planning and Land Authority, detailed assessments on the vulnerability of new suburban settlement patterns to issues such as peak oil are already underway. That regard is had to that is already reflected in existing policy arrangements when it comes to settlement patterns here in the territory.
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