TALENT ALERT: New drilling won't solve Aussie petrol pain

Climate Council

For Immediate release - Thursday April 9 2026

The Climate Council has experts available to speak on plans to drill for oil in Queensland, and calls from federal politicians to expand oil and gas exploration.

The Climate Council’s Pedal to the Metal report out today explains that drilling for fossil fuels or establishing new oil refineries will not lower energy costs right now, will not be quick to implement and will not lower pollution.

New drilling at Taroom is a bad bet. Producing more oil will take years, provide only a fraction of our energy needs, and fail to lower energy costs – all while adding more climate pollution. We’d be better off spending public money on incentives for drivers to switch to electric vehicles and cut their bills right now.

The report finds:

• Increased fuel prices cost Aussie motorists more than $1 billion in March, above their normal fuel costs.

• Australia’s two remaining refineries currently rely on subsidies to operate. 

• New oil refineries would do little for our long-term energy security. They would require substantial subsidies, take years to develop and would struggle to be economically viable. While electrification can totally remove exposure to global markets, refineries would only partially ease these pressures. Australia would still be at the whim of international oil markets for the vast majority of our fuel.

• More gas supply also won’t improve our energy security or affordability, because supply is not the cause of either of these challenges. Australia already produces 5x more gas than we need. Extracting more gas would only hand more profits to multinational gas corporations, and lock in more expensive and polluting gas for longer.

• Electric vehicles and hybrids are already saving 15 million litres of fuel every week, and that number has tripled in only three years. Plus, EVs cut climate pollution, and are cheaper to run. 

Talent available: 

Climate Councillor and former BP Australasia president Greg Bourne, based in Sydney

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie, based in Melbourne

Independent energy experts, EV case studies available from the Climate Media Centre as per attached alert.

ENDS 

For interviews please contact the Climate Council media team on [email protected] or call 0485 863 063.

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