(Angela Smith’s post from the AFR Australia on 08 April 2026.)
Oil
explorers say Queensland’s Taroom could fill nation’s refineries: Queensland’s
Taroom Trough could fill the country’s refineries and leave enough oil
available for export, according to the chief executive of the largest holder of
acreage in what has become a major energy exploration play.
Stuart
Nicholls, who leads Elixir Energy, said all the signs pointed to the trough –
an area the size of Singapore west of Brisbane – being able to produce enough
oil to eliminate the need for refineries to import crude.
The
Queensland government is urging the federal government to accelerate the
processing of environmental approvals needed to extract oil in the trough to
avoid years of delays in production and avert a repeat of the fuel crisis that
has developed since the outbreak of war in the Middle East.
“This is an opportunity to deliver liquid gold, and we have no intention of wasting it,” Premier David Crisafulli said after travelling to Shell’s acreage in the trough. “What a golden opportunity in this country to get back to a time when we are prepared to drill, and refine and store our own fuel.”
The
oil in the trough is unconventional, requiring high-tech horizontal drilling
and hydraulic fracturing to release it from dense rock formations and bring it
to the surface. The depth and complexity is expected to make it more difficult
and expensive to extract than coal seam gas. Resources Minister Madeleine King
said projects would have to go through processes to ensure they meet
environmental requirements.
“That order and thoughtfulness around approvals is really important so that the community can have confidence that when we do drill for oil or for gas, we make it safe for the community and the environment,” King told the ABC. “If it’s commercially viable, it’s environmentally viable and it meets other requirements, then this government, of course, will support it.”
Shell
has already started producing small volumes of light oil in the trough – the
first produced from the basin – which it is delivering to a small refinery run
by IOR in Eromanga in south-west Queensland. IOR is 75 per cent owned by New
York-based infrastructure investor Stonepeak after a deal completed last year.
But explorers are also aiming to supply oil to Ampol’s much larger Lytton refinery in Brisbane, and Elixir’s Nicholls said the region should supply enough also for Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery.
“Very
quickly the Taroom will outgrow the scale of the Eromanga refinery and the
scale of the Lytton refinery combined – we will see just the hundreds of
thousands of barrels that will likely be produced per day across the greater
Taroom acreage,” he said. “The Taroom has the potential to see a significant
quantity of export of liquids in the fullness of time as we start to fill the
capacity of the remaining refineries in the east coast.”
The
explorers also have their eye on gas in the trough, which they say could turn
around the supply shortage on the east coast more rapidly than the larger but
more remote Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.
Shell,
which has said little until now about what its drilling has found in the Taroom
Trough, welcomed the Queensland government’s commitment to expediting the
development of the region’s oil and gas. Krishna Venkatesan, vice president of
Shell’s QGC gas business, said exploration activities in the trough were
“delivering positive early results”.
“Economic
and energy security in Australia depends on getting the investment settings
right to deliver new supply opportunities to the market, underpinned by a
streamlined policy framework across all levels of government,” Venkatesan said,
adding that Shell was working with the government on developing the region with
new infrastructure.
Brett Woods, chief executive of Beach Energy, which bought into acreage in the trough in February, described the region as “the nation’s most exciting and important new oil province”. “I welcome the Crisafulli government’s pragmatic and proactive initiative to speeding up approvals to get more oil out of the ground and into the petrol tanks of Australian vehicles so we can insulate our economy from global price shocks,” Woods said.
Nicholls
said Elixir had just drilled a well that would be tested in early June and
should demonstrate a pathway to a commercial project and allow the company to
book its first reserves in the trough. “It’s reasonable to believe that we will
see material amounts of production coming out of the Taroom Trough within the
next one to two years,” he said.
Nicholls
said the acreage held by Shell – which the group has estimated holds 3 trillion
cubic feet of gas and 256 million barrels of light oil and condensates – was
just part of the prize on offer, with significant land of equivalent quality
held by Elixir and Omega Oil & Gas.
Shares
in both Elixir and Omega have surged amid the heightened attention around the
trough, with Elixir up 25 per cent in the past 10 days to 12¢ and Omega, which
is Elixir’s biggest shareholder, up 45 per cent to 86¢.
Premier and Minister for Veterans: The Honourable David Crisafulli
Taroom
Trough unlocking Australia’s first domestic oil supply in half a century. The
Crisafulli Government is unlocking Australia’s first oil field in 50 years, at
the Taroom Trough, for future fuel security. Strategic infrastructure delivery
and assessment to be streamlined under a State Government Taroom Trough
Development Plan.
The
Crisafulli Government calls on the Federal Government to assess the Taroom
Trough under the National Interest Fast-Track Assessment Pathway, removing
delays in bringing mass oil production to market.
Queensland
is unlocking the development of Australia’s first oil field in 50 years at the
Taroom Trough, to bolster the nation’s long-term fuel security, with
streamlined support under a new Taroom Trough Development Plan.
The
first barrels of oil from the Taroom Trough are now making their way into the
domestic fuel supply with Shell producing 200 barrels of high-quality crude oil
a day, which is being refined at iOR’s Eromanga refinery, and produced into
diesel.
To
support the development of the Taroom Trough as a major oil supply for domestic
fuel, the Crisafulli Government has announced it will streamline roads and
trunk infrastructure under a new Taroom Trough Development Plan, prepared under
a Works Regulation overseen by Queensland’s Coordinator-General. The
Taroom Trough Development Plan will establish a whole-of-basin framework to
guide the fast tracking of an efficient and responsible development of oil and
gas resources in the region.
The
Crisafulli Government is also calling for the Federal Government to recognise
the Taroom Trough as a project of national interest and streamline EPBC
approvals under the National Interest Fast-Track Assessment Pathway, which is
already in place for other major projects. The National Interest Fast-Track Assessment
Pathway will remove duplicated approvals already conducted at a State level,
allowing oil to be produced without unnecessary delay.
Premier David Crisafulli said streamlining exploration and production of the Taroom Trough was critical for long-term fuel security for Australia. “Unlocking the Taroom Trough is critical to locking in future national fuel security,” Premier Crisafulli said.
“This
is about streamlining the process and coordinating infrastructure needed to get
it out of the ground sooner. It’s there, now it’s up to all levels of
government to get it flowing. 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. National fuel security is
about drilling, refining and storing fuel locally for refuelling family cars,
transporting food, and harvesting crops.”
Deputy
Premier Jarrod Bleijie said he had directed the Queensland Coordinator-General
to immediately prepare a Works Regulation for Governor-in-Council approval, to
streamline strategic infrastructure delivery and assessment under a Taroom
Trough Development Plan. “The Crisafulli
Government is pulling all levers to unlock more domestic energy production,”
Deputy Premier Bleijie said.
“Coordinated development in the Taroom Trough will increase domestic energy security, regional investment and job creation while providing certainty for approvals.” Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last said the Crisafulli Government was sending a clear message that Queensland is open for business and is ready to unlock the opportunities under our feet.
“My
message to the explorers is simple - I’ll sign, you drill,” Minister Last said.
“This could open up Australia’s first major oil province since the 1970s – we
back the potential of the Taroom Trough and we’ll continue supporting it with
approvals and certainty. We’ll play our part, but we’re asking the Federal
Government to play their part under the National Interest Fast-Track Assessment
Pathway.”
Coordinator-General
Gerard Coggan said a coordinated approach to the development of the Taroom
Trough represented a significant opportunity for all of Queensland. “I look
forward to working with all stakeholders to facilitate the Taroom Trough
Development Plan and working with State agencies and the Federal Government to
streamline approvals,” the Coordinator-General said.
