29 replies to this topic

[Dr Terry]

Hi Guys.

devilsadvocate said:- "Not wanting to be political here, but given he has been Australia's 2nd longest serving prime minister and in office for 10 years, there has been plenty of time to address this issue. Not sure if the policy itself is bad or not, but certainly the present government has no real forsight or insight on matters relating to energy other than making sure their mining shares are doing well! "

I agree with the fact that the federal government should be more forward-thinking about alternate energy, but my point was that John Howard is not to blame for selling LPG too cheaply to the Asians or for the current (insane) price of fuel.

As far as being office for 10 years, this wasn't a problem even 5 years ago. If I recall correctly, petrol was only around 95c per litre when GST was introduced (2000), & he reduced the excise by the equivalent of the GST amount, so the price at the pump was the same before & after the GST. At that time we had the cheapest petrol in the developed world, except the USA (& probably still do) & I don't think anybody could've predicted the manner in which our petrol price is now being dictated by the refinery shortage & the NY stock exchange price. Remember this isn't about Arabs & isn't about a shortage of crude, it's about a supposed refining capacity shortage versus the northern hemisphere demand & silly buggers manipulating the commodity price of a barrel of oil.

Dr Terry.

[TerrA LX]

we make all the fuel here but dont we buy in the oil to make it?

[Dr Terry]

Hi Guys.

rorym said :- "Fuel was 10c a gallon (2.2c a litre)"

I hope you're talking about a pre-tax wholesale price Rory. When I was about 8 years old & 1st started looking & listening at cars & things I remember the uproar in the 1961 crdeit squeeze when petrol 1st hit 3 shillings (30c) a gallon. It stayed within 30c to 40c (per gallon) for the next 10 years.

ALX76 said :- "we make all the fuel here but dont we buy in the oil to make it? "

Not all crude oil is the same. It would appear that Australian crude is 'lighter' than Arab crude oil & is more suitable for light fuels, than lubrication (which is one of the reasons why we have so much LPG), whereas the Arab crude is better for lubrication etc. What this means is that we can export heaps of our type of crude but are dependant on the Arabs for lubricating oils. Because of 'world parity pricing' they are both set at the same price per barrel. But overall, we are (or were till recently) a net exporter of oil & oil products.

Dr Terry.