Australia: National bonanza sitting on shelf

Australia may be sitting on an oil and gas bonanza after winning legal ownership of a slice of undersea territory five times the size of France.

In a landmark judgement by a United Nations commission, Australia expanded its borders by almost 35%, or 2.5 million square kilometres, including a seabed thought to harbour fossil fuels and minerals.
“I am pleased to announce that Australia, the largest island in the world, has just been dramatically increased in size,” Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said yesterday.

While limited exploration has occurred in the frontier territory, it could deliver a huge resources windfall. “This is potentially a bonanza,” he said.

Australia’s crude oil self-sufficiency has declined from nearly 100% in 2000 to just more than 60%.

Without major new discoveries it is forecast to decline to 32% by 2017, creating an annual trade deficit in petroleum products, excluding liquefied natural gas exports, of $28 billion.

The Age