{"id":641818,"date":"2026-05-01T03:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/641818\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T03:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:06:09","slug":"australians-will-pay-more-if-albanese-prioritises-fossil-fuel-projects-former-oil-and-gas-leaders-warn-fossil-fuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/641818\/","title":{"rendered":"Australians will pay more if Albanese prioritises fossil fuel projects, former oil and gas leaders warn | Fossil fuels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former oil and gas industry leaders, including senior executives from BP and Shell, are warning the Albanese government that Australians risk ongoing price shocks and higher costs if it prioritises fossil fuel development in response to the global energy crisis.<\/p>\n

Sixteen ex-executives and professionals \u2013 who had worked for companies including Woodside<\/a>, Inpex, ExxonMobil and Esso \u2013 have urged the government to reject calls for fast-tracked gas and coal extraction, arguing it would do nothing to improve the nation\u2019s liquid fuel security.<\/p>\n

They said Australia\u2019s limited potential oil reserves \u2013 such as the Taroom trough, championed by the Queensland LNP government<\/a> \u2013 would probably offer less than a year of supply even if fully exploited.<\/p>\n

\u201c[They] are not a real solution within any realistic timeframe,\u201d the ex-fossil fuel leaders said in a joint statement<\/a>. \u201cThe speculative resources spruiked by some would take a decade or more to develop, and provide only a fraction of our energy needs temporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

Signatories to the statement included former BP Australasia president
Greg Bourne, ex-BP vice-president for global projects Russell Smith, and Bernard Wheelahan, a former director of Shell Australia, president of Shell Venezuela and chair of lobby group the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (now known as Australian Energy<\/a> Producers).<\/p>\n

They said Australia should back policies that \u201caccelerate renewable energy deployment, modernise the grid and support large-scale electrification\u201d to minimise reliance on oil. \u201cEvery electric vehicle on the road, electric vehicle in a mine and battery replacing a diesel generator frees up diesel fuel for the rest \u2013 permanently,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The statement was echoed in an unrelated speech by the chair of the federal government agency the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean. He told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia event in Melbourne on Thursday that calls for more drilling for fossil fuels during an oil crisis defied logic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s like fixing a gambling debt by going back down the casino. It makes no sense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The federal government is considering expanded support to ensure fuel supplies and encourage electrification in this month\u2019s federal budget. The federal Coalition and the gas lobby call for faster approvals for fossil fuel projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese<\/a>, indicated on Wednesday he would not undermine existing gas export contracts by introducing a 25% gas export tax, saying he was focused on maintaining relationships with Asian countries that buy Australian gas and supply liquid fossil fuels. He dismissed a campaign for a gas tax that polls suggest has strong community support as dishonest and populist.<\/p>\n

The ex-gas and oil leaders said expanding drilling and quickly approving new fossil fuel projects in response to the fuel crisis caused by the Iran war \u201cmay appear, on the surface, easy options\u201d but risked locking Australia into outdated infrastructure and exposing households to \u201ccontinuing price shocks\u201d.<\/p>\n

They said some gas would still be required, including to \u201cfirm\u201d renewable energy generation, but Australia already had enough to meet future demand. \u201cFossil fuel lobbying has slowed the transition from petrostate to electrostate for decades at great cost to Australians. It must not be allowed to happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'We've‘We’ve been sold out’: Punters Politics fronts inquiry into gas export tax \u2013 video<\/p>\n

Bourne, now a director with the Climate Council, said the signatories to the statement had experience across oil and gas businesses, including management, drilling, geology and finance.<\/p>\n

He said they had largely worked with oil and gas companies when those businesses were planning to shift from fossil fuels to broader energy interests, including clean investments, as they \u201cbegan to see climate change was a significant and strategic issue that needed to be managed\u201d. Those plans had since been dropped in many cases, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former oil and gas industry leaders, including senior executives from BP and Shell, are warning the Albanese government…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-641818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}