Global energy crisis now ‘largest in history’

WA coal miner given 5-year lifeline as state-owned coal exit looms The WA Government will extend Griffin Coal’s State Agreement from July 2026 by up to five years, allowing the Ewington Mine in Collie to continue supplying coal to industry and the privately owned Bluewaters Power Station.The WA Government says it has been in “advanced negotiations” with Griffin’s major direct and indirect customers, and that the new commercial arrangements are expected to significantly reduce the subsidy required from July 1.Details as to the reduced subsidy are not yet available, with the WA Government saying they will be provided to Parliament once new commercial arrangements are finalised.Despite the agreement extension, the WA Government maintains it is on track to retire all State-owned coal-fired power stations by 2030.In May 2025, WA Minister for Regional Development Stephen Dawson indicated that support would end in mid-2026 and that any continuation would be industry-led without ongoing government funding.“Continuation beyond 30 June 2026 will need to be industry-led on a commercially sustainable basis without ongoing WA Government funding and underpinned by Griffin Coal's customers paying a fair price for coal,” he said at the time.“If this is not achievable, coal mining operations may cease.”The extension builds on the WA Government’s $220m allocation to support continued operations at Griffin until June 2026. Announced in December 2023, the WA Government warned at the time that sudden closure risked immediate job losses and electricity system stability.The WA Government says it has now provided $308m in support to Griffin Coal since 2022, and that the extension will support energy security during the transition."Collie remains critical to our government's vision of becoming a renewable energy powerhouse, with coal fired power generation underpinning energy security and affordability as we build our major new transmission lines to connect large scale wind and solar to the grid,” WA Premier Roger Cook said."The extension of the Griffin Coal State Agreement will provide certainty to the Collie community and underpin energy security for households and businesses across the South West Interconnected System, including Perth, as we deliver the energy transition."WA Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson says the commitment to retire State-owned coal by 2030 remains.“Renewables firmed by batteries and gas is the least cost mix for households and businesses — and that is what we are delivering,” she said."Extending the State Agreement is a sensible, pragmatic step to provide certainty for industry, the Collie community and the power system as we deliver the energy transition."The WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) backed the extension, with CME chief executive Aaron Morey saying it is a pragmatic step.“Not only does coal remain an important source of power generation in the SWIS, key resources operations rely on coal as a reductant or heat source in their production processes,” he said.“Industry supports the pursuit of net zero by 2050 but the pathway is not linear. It will require adjustments along the way to ensure the viability of our existing operators and to safeguard high-paying jobs in our regions.”The Mining and Energy Union (MEU) also welcomed the announcement, saying it delivers long-overdue certainty for coal workers and families in Collie while supporting energy security during the transition.MEU WA District President Greg Busson says the announcement addresses the uncertainty workers have been living with as existing funding arrangements near their end.“With the current funding arrangements coming to an end, the Government’s commitment to extend support for a further five years is a practical and responsible intervention that will keep people in jobs and give workers and the Collie community the certainty they need during the transition,” he said.“Importantly, this extension comes alongside a significant reduction in the level of subsidy required from taxpayers, while still bridging the gap in a way that keeps the lights on and workers in jobs as the transition continues.“That five-year commitment gives everyone the clarity they need to plan for an orderly and just transition, rather than facing ongoing uncertainty year to year.”Alongside the extension, the WA Government will also immediately form the Collie Basin Consolidation Taskforce.The taskforce will develop a proposed future structure for the coal assets in the basin, exploring whether the basin's two mines — operated by Griffin and Premier Coal — would be more efficiently mined by a single entity.The taskforce will be required to report back to the WA Premier within six months.

Not a single oil tanker passed through the Strait of Hormuz on March 3, maritime monitors said, as the key oil and LNG chokepoint remained effectively closed amid escalating conflict between the US, Israel and Iran.In 2024, the Strait of Hormuz normally saw about 20 million barrels per day, the equivalent of about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. The historical daily average for all vessels through the strait is about 138 ships, according to the Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC).At least four vessels in or near the strait have been struck since the conflict began with continued threats reportedly coming from Iran adding to the fear and uncertainty effectively keeping the strait shuttered for the foreseeable future.Asia is likely to see the biggest hit from supply disruptions at Hormuz, with Australia following as a result of its reliance.According to the EIA, 84% of the crude oil and condensate and 83% of the liquefied natural gas that moved through the Strait of Hormuz went to Asian markets in 2024.Although a significant bulk commodity exporter to Asia, Australia is a price-taker when it comes to refined oil products.Australia only has two refineries remaining which only supply around 20% of Australia’s liquid fuel demand, leaving the country heavily exposed to import availability from Asia.Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has moved to reassure the public not to panic, saying the country is “currently in excess of the minimum stock obligations” for petrol, diesel and jet fuel.But those minimum stock obligations, instituted in 2023, are measured in days.Minister Bowen says Australia has 36 days’ worth of petrol, 34 days’ worth of diesel and 32 days’ worth of jet fuel on hand at present.“That's in addition to the petrol and diesel that's in service stations sitting in tanks around the country as we speak and, of course, the petrol that's already in cars,” he said.“That is just the reserve that is kept for these circumstances.”The International Energy Agency (IEA) requires member countries to hold emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports.Although Australia is well-below this threshold, the government argues its domestic Minimum Stockholding Obligation is designed around domestic fuel security rather than securing stock to sell or release to the global market in case of supply disruptions.Minister Bowen says Australia’s major refining companies have informed the government that they have confidence in the oil supplies through to May with contracts in place which they expect to be honoured and delivered.Although there is clarity around how long Australia’s access to oil is secured for, the very real issue of price remains.“Look, there will be pressures,” Minister Bowen said.“The biggest impact on petrol prices in Australia will always be oil prices, and oil price will come under pressure. But for those Australians who are concerned about our supply of oil and petrol, I'm pleased to say that we are in good shape.”Beyond the consumer’s shock at the pump — or even before, with queues potentially extending for kilometres — the mining industry’s financials could also take a hit.The mining industry is largely exposed to diesel prices for haulage and mobile equipment, which continues to be one of the hardest-to-abate inputs across the sector.According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) one ultra class haul truck can use about 1 million litres of diesel in a year.Nationally, fuel combustion emissions in mining have doubled since FY11 to 21.8mt in FY23, growing at a steady rate of 6.8% per year, according to the IEEFA.If the prices of such a significant input rise due to shortages or uncertainty, operating costs at mining operations across the country could take a hit.Industry and government are well aware of the risks of this exposure. The Fuel Tax Credit (FTC) Scheme rebates the full federal fuel tax (51.6 cents/litre as of August 2025) on imported diesel used off-road in industry.According to Climate Energy Finance (CEF), mining accounts for the majority of the credits with $57.5b to August 2025, projected to exceed $84b by 2030.Based on CEF analysis, the top 15 consumers of diesel in Australia consumed almost 6 billion litres of diesel with the weighted-average fuel excise rate of 49 cents per litre providing over $2.9bn in forgone taxation over FY24.The largest beneficiaries included BHP (ASX: BHP) ($627m rebate), Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) ($416m rebate) and Glencore ($364m rebate).Looking back at the haul truck example, the IEEFA calculates that the value of the diesel rebate over the truck’s 15-year lifespan is equal to the total purchase of the truck, meaning that the rebate effectively could pay for a truck’s worth of diesel over its life and, at scale, materially offset fleet operating costs across a mine.The strategic dilemma already facing the mining industry becomes even more prickly with the added geopolitical uncertainty.The largely touted, long-term solution is to reduce diesel dependence through electrification or alternative fuels. But in the short term, tax credits remain a more readily available pressure release for miners.Although the FTC has proven successful in softening fuel costs for industry, we have yet to see if it can prevent larger forces such as a war-linked price spike from hitting the industry’s costs.Beyond diesel, Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King has warned of impacts to Australia’s supply of urea, a type of nitrogen fertiliser.Minister King says Australia is quite dependent on imports from around the world of urea, with much of that coming through the Strait of Hormuz. “Using liquid natural gas from offshore WA, it goes into the production of urea at the Perdaman project,” she said.“This is a $6b project in north WA. It is one of the largest manufacturing projects this country has ever undertaken.“The investment that our government has put into it is also of historic proportions. And that is to make sure we have that resilience for the production of urea which goes into fertiliser.”The project is supported by the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund, with Minister King saying the package totals more than $300m, including $220m directed to Perdaman.Minister King says it is expected that about half of the urea produced by the project would remain in Australia, with the rest set for export.

The Federal Government has struck a deal with the Greens to pass the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, delivering on a five-year mission to reform Australia’s environmental laws.

Billion-dollar mine felled by a blue banded beeLast year, former Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek derailed Regis Resources’ (ASX: RRL) $1b McPhillamys gold project in NSW with a controversial Indigenous heritage ruling.Now more than a year later, the Federal Court in Sydney is hearing Regis’ case — with the company pleading that the decision should be deemed invalid due to alleged issues and failures on behalf of Minister Plibersek.Regis Resources has argued that the view held by the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) changed after additional evidence was produced by an independent Aboriginal elder more than a year after approval was granted.The Dreaming story that was given as evidence is considered controversial between Traditional Owners and Regis argues that further investigation should have taken place before the ruling was handed out.If Regis’ application is successful, the company will seek a declaration from a Federal Court judge that the Section 10 declaration is legally invalid and that the application be redetermined by a minister other than Minister Plibersek.Despite the contention, Minister Plibersek has remained adamant in her ruling.“The truth is we are living in a country where we've got thousands of years of continuous culture and heritage. We've done a pretty bad job of protecting it in the past,” Minister Plibersek said.“If we sincerely believe that we can't allow the destruction of cultural heritage in that way, then occasionally decisions like this have to be taken.“Protecting cultural heritage and development are not mutually exclusive. We can have both,” Minister Plibersek said.The ruling made in August 2024 — more than a year after the project was approved — denied the construction of a tailings dam near the Belubula River in an attempt to protect culturally significant land.“The Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people, who traditionally lived around the Bathurst area, have significant spiritual and cultural connections to the headwaters of the Belubula River,” Minister Plibersek said at the time.“If this site were to be desecrated, it would be a threat to the continuance of Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri culture.“Crucially, my decision is not to stop the mine. The company has indicated to me that it has assessed around four sites and 30 potential options for the tailings dam.”Following the ruling, contrary to Minister Plibersek's declaration, Regis deemed the project as non-viable, stating it would take up to 10 years to identify and gain approval for an alternative tailings site, before taking out a non-cash impairment of $192m.The federal heritage protection system operates through Section 10 emergency declarations, which can override existing state approvals when sites face imminent threat of desecration. This power to operate independently from state mining approvals has created significant regulatory complexity.The Regis protection order challenge is an example of these two-tier regulatory system dynamics.During the initial assessment process, Regis consulted the Orange Local Aboriginal Council, who was believed to be the legally recognised Traditional Owner representatives of the region.In 2020, Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Nyree Reynolds lodged a protection application which failed to meet the required protection criteria. The application was made independent of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council and NSW Aboriginal Land Council.The NSW Government granted the McPhillamys project approval in 2023 but critical cultural evidence regarding the Blue Banded Bee Dreaming story emerged after approval was received, completely shifting the assessment trajectory.The federal protection orders were implemented in late 2024 despite the significance of the evidence being disputed between the Wiradjuri community.Under the federal protection system process, it was considered unnecessary to undertake additional consultation with Regis Resources.Following the ruling, Regis Resources chief executive Jim Beyer said the required restart of the approvals process with the NSW and Federal Governments could take up to 10 years, with no certainty of a viable alternative being realised.“Following the surprising and disappointing Section 10 Declaration by Minister Plibersek, Regis has commenced an assessment of the impacts on the economic value of our business,” he said.Regis Resources announced its decision to contest the ministerial decision shortly after, arguing the company was not afforded the opportunity to respond to the change in the application following the accumulation of new evidence.