The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) made a number of recommendations in its 2007 report (Petrol Prices and Australian Consumers
) relating to reducing impediments to competition in the wholesale petrol market. One recommendation was that a comprehensive audit of terminals suitable for importing refined petrol in Australia be conducted. The Department has responsibility for this audit.
The Department engaged ACIL Tasman to complete this comprehensive audit. ACIL Tasman’s report, Petroleum Import Infrastructure in Australia, was released by the Minister for Resources and Energy on 24 August 2009.
The audit concludes that existing infrastructure and planned investments will result in spare capacity emerging in all jurisdictions except the Northern Territory over the two years from December 2008 and that, in general, the current operating environment and access arrangements do not impose material competition constraints for importers of petroleum products.
The audit recommends:
- a review of the costs and benefits of retaining different fuel standards in Western Australia
- consideration be given to measures for ensuring that the Australian Government’s statistics collection captures all petroleum product imports, relevant stock level indicators and storage capacity at all import facilities
- a review of planning and approvals processes to ensure efficiency and consistency across jurisdictions.
The Petroleum Import Infrastructure in Australia executive summary and main report are available in the attachments below. The Government will consider recommendations of the import terminal audit in the context of long-term supply and demand issues, through the Energy White Paper process.