Australia leading global energy resources in AECR report

The latest Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources (AECR) publication shows the status of Australia’s energy resources against a backdrop of accelerating global decarbonisation, technological innovation and shifting patterns of energy demand and trade.

In 2023, global energy demand continued its long-term growth, with primary energy consumption increasing by 2% with fossil fuel consumption accounting for 60% of that increase and experiencing a 4% increase overall, according to the AECR.

The AECR, published by Geoscience Australia, shows that in 2023 Australia’s energy exports were more than seven times its imports, with 80% of its produced energy being exported.

But as decarbonisation accelerates and technology reshapes the energy landscape, Australia is not standing still. AECR emphasises that Australia is an active nation in the global transition with total energy exploration expenditure for 2023 hitting $1.47b — an increase of 18% on $1.25b in 2022.

The Energy Institute reported that renewable energy consumption continued to grow rapidly, up 12% from 2022, accounting for 44% of growth in 2023 and nuclear energy consumption also increased by nearly 2% globally

According to the publication, Australia’s non-renewable resources has supported not only its own prosperity but also the economies of nations around the world for decades.

Federal resources Minister Madeleine King says the facts in the report underline why Australia is a trusted, stable and reliable exporter of energy and a dependable investment partner.

“We know traditional energy resources like gas will continue to have an important role to play as a flexible and dependable source of energy as we invest in strategies to reduce our carbon footprint,” she said.

“With 17 active offshore greenhouse gas storage assessment permits and projects coming in at an investment of nearly $1b, we are setting the international benchmark for supporting CCS, zero and low-emissions energy projects.”

Despite a slight decline in the total energy resource base, Australia’s productivity continues to rise, generating more value from every unit of energy consumed.

Coal

Australia is the fifth largest coal producer, the second largest exporter and has the third largest reserves of coal in the world, according to the AECR. The report highlights that coal remains Australia’s largest energy resource, however, during 2022–23, export earnings from black coal totalled $103.2b, down 9.3% from $113.8b in 2021–22.

As the world shifts away from fossil fuels, new projects and innovations for clean energy are delivering new opportunities to ensure Australia’s energy security.

Uranium

The AECR also found that Australia has more than one-third of the world’s known uranium resources and ranked fourth for global production, contributing about 9% to global production, despite the absence of domestic nuclear power and the mining of uranium currently only being permitted in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Australia’s uranium industry has seen further growth amid increasing global interest in nuclear energy as an alternative low-emission power source. Australia exports all its uranium production to countries which have signed bilateral safeguards agreement, ensuring that Australian uranium is only used for peaceful purposes and does not contribute to any military applications.

Oil and gas

The AECR found that Australia relies heavily on imports for crude oil and refined petroleum products but is the worlds seventh largest global gas producer and the third largest liquid natural gas (LNG) exporter.

Conventional gas and coal seam gas (CSG) remain Australia’s most important gas resources for energy generation and export. However, the AECR found these resources are being depleted at a faster rate than they are being replaced by new discoveries.

The Office of the Chief Economist noted that higher trade barriers currently weighing on world economic growth have softened the near-term outlook for Australia’s resource and energy exports with export earnings for FY26 forecasted to fall to $369b from the $385b forecasted for FY25.