Australia's Energy Commodity Resources 2026 Oil
Page last updated:10 August 2026
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TDR 98,553 PJ (1.7%) | |
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Reserves (2P) 6,895 PJ (8.7%) |
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Production 595 PJ (3.8%) | |
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Exports 678 PJ (3.5%) $13.9 b (4.1%) |
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Production World Ranking 32 (0.4%) | |
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Export World Ranking na |
Notes
Notes: Statistics are for 2024, percentage increases or decreases are relative to 2023. World rankings are followed by percentage share in brackets. Production does not fully capture LPG. Exports include crude oil, refinery feedstocks and LPG. TDR = total demonstrated resources (reserves and contingent resources); PJ = petajoules. na = not available. $b = billion dollars (Australian).
Figure 4.1 Australia’s remaining oil reserves (2P) and contingent resources (2C) during 2024 and cumulative production to end 2024 (PJ). For physical units (MMbbl) refer to Table 4.1, Table 4.2, Table 4.3 and Table 4.4.
Highlights
- In 2024 Australia’s total demonstrated oil resources are estimated at 98,553 PJ (16,835 million barrels [MMbbl]), of which 6,895 PJ (1196.5 MMbbl) are classified as proven and probable (2P) reserves. Approximately 80% of these resources are associated with unconventional oil shale deposits.
- Australia’s conventional liquid hydrocarbon resources include crude oil, and the condensate plus liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) resources associated with gas accumulations (as phases of natural gas liquids; Figure 4.1). Australia has limited identified conventional oil resources which are being depleted at a faster rate than they are being replaced by new discoveries (Figure 4.2).
- In 2024, Australia’s total demonstrated resources (TDR) of conventional oil are estimated as 18,665 PJ (3,247 MMbbl), including 6,895 PJ (1,196.5 MMbbl) of proven and probable (2P) reserves and 11,770 PJ (2,050.9 MMbbl) of contingent (2C) resources (Figure 4.1).
- Australia has significant undiscovered unconventional oil resources potential, including shale oil, tight oil, oil shale and basin centred natural gas liquids. Unconventional oil resources are currently undeveloped and include oil shale occurrences (TDR of 78,966 PJ; 13,430 MMbbl) and minor condensate and LPG associated with unconventional gas resources (TDR of 922 PJ; 158 MMbbl). Currently there are no unconventional oil reserves or production in Australia.
- Australia is a minor oil producer, ranking 32nd in the world and accounting for 0.4% of total oil production in 2024 (Energy Institute, 2025). In 2023–24 Australia produced 738.5 PJ (125.6 MMbbl) of crude oil, condensate and LPG, of which over 94% was exported (DCCEEW, 2025a). In 2024, Australia imported about 95% of its oil requirements. In 2024, imported products accounted for 79% of total refined product consumption, while imported crude accounted for 60% of total refinery inputs (DCCEEW, 2025a).
- In 2024, 82% of all oil production was from offshore fields on Australia’s North West Shelf (Northern Carnarvon, Browse and Bonaparte basins), this included condensate produced from a few large gas fields. Australia’s domestic crude oil production continues to decline rapidly (down 11% year on year), and at the current rate of production current reserves can only support another 8 years.
Figure 4.2 Trends in Australia’s total demonstrated oil resources, 2018–2024.
Identified oil resources
The majority of Australia’s remaining identified offshore oil resources occur in basins located in the continent’s north‑west and south‑east, with the Northern Carnarvon and Browse/Bonaparte basins holding the majority of these resources. Onshore, the Cooper/Eromanga basins in South Australia and Queensland hold the greatest quantity of identified remaining conventional oil resources (Figure 4.1; Table 4.1, Table 4.2 and Table 4.3).
In 2024, Australia’s TDR of conventional oil are estimated at 18,665 PJ (3,247 MMbbl), down 8.5% (1,731 PJ) from 2023. Australia’s conventional oil resources include:
- Crude oil with TDR estimated to be 3,849 PJ (655 MMbbl), a decrease of 15% from 2023, including 1,255 PJ (213 MMbbl) of reserves and 2,594 PJ (441 MMbbl) of contingent resources. Based on 2024 production rates, the estimated life for Australia’s crude oil reserves is less than 8 years.
- Total demonstrated LPG resources estimated as 1,083 PJ (257 MMbbl), a decrease of 17% from 2023, comprising 353 PJ (84 MMbbl) of reserves and 730 PJ (173 MMbbl) of contingent resources. Based on 2024 production rates, the remaining life for Australia’s LPG reserves is estimated to be 10 years.
- Condensate TDR is estimated as 13,732 PJ (2,335 MMbbl), a decrease of 6% from 2023, this includes 5,288 PJ (899 MMbbl) of reserves and 8,445 PJ (1,436 MMbbl) of contingent resources. Most condensate resources are associated with LNG projects in the Northern Carnarvon and Browse basins on the North West Shelf. Based on 2024 production rates, Australia’s condensate reserves have an estimated life of 13 years.
Table 4.1 Australia's remaining crude oil reserves (2P), contingent resources (2C) and annual production during 2024, and cumulative production to end 2024.
| Basin | Crude oil | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Production | Cumulative Production | Reserves (2P) | Resources (2C) | |||||
| PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | |
| Amadeus | 0.6 | 0.1 | 113 | 19.2 | 9 | 1.6 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Bass/Otway | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 6.0 |
| Bonaparte/Browse | 11 | 1.9 | 2,728 | 463.9 | 109 | 18.5 | 301 | 51.2 |
| Bowen/Surat | 0 | 0 | 201 | 34.1 | 11 | 2.0 | 6 | 1.1 |
| Canning | 0 | 0 | 37 | 6.4 | 1 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Carnarvon/ Roebuck | 112 | 19.1 | 12,441 | 2,115.9 | 897 | 152.5 | 1,415 | 240.6 |
| Cooper/Eromanga | 31 | 5.3 | 2,525 | 429.7 | 213 | 36.3 | 352 | 59.9 |
| Gippsland | 6 | 1.1 | 22,828 | 3,882.3 | 12 | 2.0 | 232 | 39.4 |
| Perth | 0 | 0.1 | 200 | 34.0 | 2 | 0.4 | 252 | 42.9 |
| Total | 162 | 27.6 | 41,073 | 6,985.5 | 1,255 | 213.4 | 2,594 | 441.2 |
| Change from 2023 (PJ/MMbbl) | 19 | 3 | 267 | 45 | 91 | 15 | 615 | 105 |
| Change from 2023 (%) | 10.7% | 10.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 6.8% | 6.8% | 19.2% | 19.2% |
Abbreviations
PJ= Petajoules. MMbbl=million barrels.
Notes
Data from the former Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) have been omitted from the Bonaparte Basin totals.
Sources: Offshore data provided by NOPTA to year-end 2024; onshore data are sourced from government statistics and company estimates reported at various dates between June 2024 and June 2025. Additional data for the Northern Carnarvon Basin sourced from EnergyQuest (2025); additional data for the Browse/Bonaparte and Perth basins sourced from company reports.
Table 4.2 Australia’s remaining condensate reserves (2P), contingent resources (2C) and annual production during 2024, and cumulative production to end 2024.
| Basin | Condensate | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Production | Cumulative Production | Reserves (2P) | Resources (2C) | |||||
| PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | |
| Amadeus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bass/Otway | 6 | 1 | 114 | 19 | 30 | 5 | 190 | 32 |
| Bonaparte/Browse | 163 | 28 | 961 | 163 | 3,090 | 526 | 5,122 | 871 |
| Bowen/Surat | 5 | 1 | 62 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 22 | 4 |
| Canning | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 |
| Northern Carnarvon/ Roebuck | 204 | 35 | 7,434 | 1,264 | 2,021 | 344 | 2,699 | 459 |
| Cooper/Eromanga | 8 | 1 | 753 | 128 | 50 | 9 | 121 | 21 |
| Gippsland | 10 | 2 | 1,796 | 305 | 87 | 15 | 240 | 41 |
| Perth | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 24 | 4 |
| Total | 397 | 68 | 11,127 | 1,892 | 5,288 | 899 | 8,445 | 1,436 |
| Change from 2023 (PJ/MMbbl) | 1 | 0.1 | 450 | 76 | 499 | 85 | 303 | 52 |
| Change from 2023 (%) | 0.2% | 0.2% | 4.2% | 4.2% | 8.6% | 8.6% | 3.5% | 3.5% |
Abbreviations
PJ= Petajoules. MMbbl=million barrels.
Notes
Data from the former Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) have been omitted from Bonaparte Basin totals.
Sources: Offshore data provided by NOPTA to year-end 2024; onshore data are sourced from government statistics and company estimates reported at various dates between June 2024 and June 2025.
Table 4.3 Australia's remaining LPG reserves (2P), contingent resources (2C) and annual production during 2024, and cumulative production to end 2024.
| Basin | LPG | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Production | Cumulative Production | Reserves (2P) | Resources (2C) | |||||
| PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | |
| Amadeus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bass/Otway | 2 | 0.5 | 43 | 10 | 30 | 7 | 22 | 5 |
| Bonaparte/Browse1,2 | na | na | na | na | 80 | 19 | 196 | 47 |
| Bowen/Surat | 0 | 0 | 70 | 12 | 16 | 4 | 16 | 4 |
| Canning | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Carnarvon/ Roebuck1 | na | na | na | na | 74 | 18 | 135 | 32 |
| Cooper/Eromanga | 8 | 2 | 941 | 190 | 55 | 13 | 114 | 27 |
| Gippsland | 25 | 6 | 3,819 | 907 | 99 | 23 | 248 | 59 |
| Perth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 35 | 8 | 4,873 | 1,119 | 353 | 84 | 730 | 173 |
| Change from 2023 (PJ/MMbbl) | 5 | 1 | 88 | 21 | 66 | 16 | 157 | 37 |
| Change from 2023 (%) | 12.5% | 12.5% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 15.7% | 15.7% | 17.7% | 17.7% |
Abbreviations
PJ= Petajoules, MMbbl=million barrels, na = not available.
Notes
1LPG production data for the Bonaparte/Browse and Northern Carnarvon basin areas is not available as this is not reported in the offshore NOPTA data. 2Data from the former Joint Petroleum Development Area (JPDA) have been omitted from Bonaparte/Browse basin totals.
Sources: Offshore data provided by NOPTA to year-end 2024; onshore data are sourced from government statistics and company estimates reported at various dates between June 2024 and June 2025.
Australia has significant potential for unconventional liquid petroleum resources hosted in oil shales, and shale oil and tight oil accumulations. There are currently no identified contingent resources of shale oil, coal oil or tight oil in Australia. Large volumes of contingent resources are contained in unconventional oil shale accumulations, estimated at 78,966 PJ (13,430 MMbbl; Figure 4.3). These resources require mining and industrial processing to extract oil and although minor amounts of oil shale resources were produced in the past, there are currently no identified reserves or operating projects. Other contingent unconventional oil resources are currently limited to a small quantity of condensate (905 PJ, 154 MMbbl) and LPG (17 PJ, 4 MMbbl) associated with basin centred gas and tight gas accumulations in the Bowen/Surat, Canning and Cooper basins, as well as shale gas in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, McArthur Basin (Table 4.4).
Figure 4.3 Australia’s oil shale contingent resources (2C) during 2024 (PJ).
Notes: With the exception of the Julia Creek deposits, these resources were reported as recoverable shale oil resources under the subeconomic “Paramarginal” and “Submarginal” categories of the Australian National Classification System for Identified Mineral Resources. Refer to the data download for further detail.
Table 4.4 Australia's unconventional oil contingent resources (2C) during 2024.
| Basin | Type | Unconventional Oil Resources (2C) | Data Sources | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil | Condensate | LPG | ||||||
| PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | PJ | MMbbl | |||
| Beetaloo Sub-basin | Shale gas | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Empire Energy (2023) |
| Bowen/Surat |
Basin centred gas; tight gas | 0 | 0 | 541 | 92 | 3 | 1 |
Elixir Energy Limited (2024); Omega Oil & Gas Limited (2023); Qld Govt Dept of Resources (2025) |
| Canning |
Basin centred gas; tight gas | 0 | 0 | 320 | 55 | 0 | 0 |
Buru Energy (2018); Black Mountain (2022) |
| Cooper/Eromanga | Undifferentiated | 0 | 0 | 22 | 4 | 15 | 3 | Beach Energy (2025) |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 905 | 154 | 17 | 4 | ||
| Change from 2023 (PJ/MMbbl) | - | - | 57 | 10 | 28 | 7 | ||
| Change from 2023 (%) | - | - | 6.7 | 6.7 | 61.3 | 61.3 | ||
Abbreviations
PJ= Petajoules, MMbbl=million barrels.
Notes
Source: Beach Energy (2025); Black Mountain (2022); Buru Energy (2018); Elixir Energy (2024, 2025); Energy (2023); Omega Oil and Gas (2023), Qld Govt Dept of Resources (2025).ment statistics and company estimates reported at various dates between June 2024 and June 2025.
Exploration
In 2024, Australian petroleum exploration expenditure was A$1,367 million, up 25% (A$274 million) from 2023 (ABS, 2025). The majority of spending is now directed onshore, accounting for nearly two-thirds of total expenditure. Overall, exploration for gas continued as the central focus of Australia’s upstream petroleum sector in 2024 and 2025.
Oil exploration in Australia during 2024 and 2025 was highlighted by activity in the Taroom Trough, Bowen Basin, that is being explored for unconventional resources. Current active explorers in the region include Omega Oil and Gas, Elixir Energy, Santos and QGC (Shell). Promising results include those reported for the Canyon Project where testing at Canyon‑1H flowed light oil from the tight Canyon Sandstone reservoir (Omega Oil and Gas, 2025). Broader oil exploration results across Australia were limited in 2024 and 2025, with no major new discoveries reported. In the Perth Basin, the North Erregulla oil field discovered in 2023 was appraised by North Erregulla 2, supporting the booking of a maiden contingent oil resource in 2024 (Mineral Resources, 2024). Notably, the oil discoveries at Canyon and North Erregulla were both made by wells with gas as the primary target, whereas wells specifically targeting oil were largely unsuccessful. Offshore activity on the North West Shelf was mostly directed toward gas developments, LNG backfill, and optimisation of existing infrastructure.
Production and trade
Based on the data compiled for this publication, Australia’s oil production in 2024 totalled 595 PJ (104 MMbbl), however, this total does not capture LPG production from basins on Australia’s North West Shelf2. This section draws on the Australian Government’s energy statistics published in the Australian Energy Update (DCCEEW, 2025), which captures trends in Australia’s oil production and trade. In 2023–24 Australia produced 738 PJ (126 MMbbl) of crude oil, condensate and LPG, of which over 94% was exported (DCCEEW, 2025). About 73% of Australia’s extracted oil in 2024 was condensate and LPG resources associated with producing gas fields. Figure 4.4 shows the distribution of Australia’s oil fields, pipelines, petroleum permits and ports.
Figure 4.4 Australia’s oil fields, infrastructure and petroleum permits.
Australia is a net importer of refined oil products, crude oil and other refinery feedstocks, and also exports a major share of its crude oil production, predominantly from Western Australia (Figure 4.5). About 94% of Australia’s domestically produced oil resources were exported in 2023–24. Australia’s crude oil and condensate exports decreased by 6%, or 36 PJ, in 2023–24 to 566 PJ (DCCEEW, 2025) with associated export earnings down 5% to A$12.6 billion (DISR, 2025). Australia also exported a small volume (about 144 PJ) of refined products and LPG in 2023–24 (Figure 4.6), but this remained a small proportion of domestically refined products. Export earnings from Australia’s refined petroleum products and LPG grew in 2023–24 to A$6.1 billion, with continued high earnings from bunker fuels (DISR, 2025).
Figure 4.5. Trends in Australia’s oil balance, 1984–85 to 2023–24.
The majority of Australia’s energy imports are represented by refined petroleum products (including LPG) and crude oil (Figure 4.6). In 2023–24, crude oil remained steady at 362 PJ while output from Australia’s two remaining domestic refineries rose 6% to 556 PJ as operations recovered from the maintenance, outages and supply disruptions of 2022–23. Imports of refined products and LPG continued to grow, rising 5%, to a record 1,941 PJ (DCCEEW, 2025).
Figure 4.6 Australia’s oil flows, 2023–24.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics), 2025. Mineral and Petroleum Exploration, Australia, Table 5. (Last accessed May 2026).
DCCEEW (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water), 2025a. Australian Energy Update 2025. (Last accessed May 2026).
DISR (Department of Industry, Science and Resources), 2025. Resources and Energy Quarterly, December 2025. (Last accessed May 2026).
Energy Institute, 2025. Statistical Review of World Energy. (Last accessed May 2026).
McKerron, A., 2026. Exploration year in review: 2025. Australian Energy Producers Journal 66, EP26002.
Mineral Resources, 2024. ASX announcement 16 September 2024. (Last accessed May 2026).
Omega Oil and Gas, 2025. ASX announcement 25 March 2025. (Last accessed May 2026).
Note: refer to Appendix 5 for references regarding onshore oil reserves, contingent resources and production data.
Data download
Data tables and full report are downloadable from the Geoscience Australia website.
2 Note that this total is an underestimate as LPG production data for the Bonaparte/Browse and Northern Carnarvon basin areas are not available as these are not reported to NOPTA.