News & Media

"Nuclear power would be a win for the environment and an essential part of attacking global warming."

A recent flurry of forecasts offers us a range of different views on what’s happening to the global demand for, and use of, crude oil. One thing seems to be clear, however: the chances of net zero carbon emissions in the near term – ie, by 2050 – are basically zero.

The Australia Institute reckons $111 billion of WA gas was exported over four years without any royalties paid to government - but the lobby group’s claims need serious scrutiny.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has told energy producers he will halve project approval times for new projects and release new gas fields annually for development as he works to win back support from the west-coast resources sector.

Iron ore futures prices extended their rise to hit the highest level in multiple weeks on Monday, bolstered by an obvious reduction in shipments and hopes that top consumer China will roll out more stimulus to prop up its economy.

A probe into whether the Environmental Defenders Office breached the terms of its taxpayer-funded contract during the Barossa gas pipeline legal saga is shrouded in secrecy, with the Federal Government refusing to guarantee its findings will be publicly released. The West can reveal the Environment Department has outsourced the review of the EDO to a private legal firm - but is refusing to explain why.

Solar panels have become so cheap that they are being used to build garden fences in the Netherlands and Germany, as a boom in Chinese production saturates the global market.

A looming gas shortfall that threatens to curtail industries and derail Australia’s energy transition is the fault of 10 successive government interventions, the Gina Rinehart-backed Senex Energy has declared, and now the country has little time left to fix the mess.

LACK OF SUPPLY THREATENS POWER GRID Gas generators may be forced to burn diesel to keep the power grid running after authorities warned that states face a catastrophic supply shortfall from next year unless new sources of supply are developed. The Australian Energy Market Operator revealed that gas generators could have to run on diesel through to 2026 during periods of high demand, due to the lack of gas on the east coast. Gas generators were last forced to use diesel to prop up the electricity grid in 2022 when Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a domestic crisis.

We could run out of gas on chilly days as early as next winter, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned again. The SMH reports ExxonMobil and Woodside Energy are preparing to shutter one of three key plants that process gas from the Bass Strait, the 50-year-old Gippsland Basin, which has provided two-thirds of the southern states’ gas appetite.