Australian oil output peaks on slippery slope
Australian oil output may be basking in a three-year boom but shrinking fields, tougher geology and speedy development technology will force projects to peak quicker and decline faster than expected.
A flush of new fields will make Australia the biggest contributor to Asia-Pacific's production growth for a second year running, giving regional refiners -- who import about two-thirds of their crude from outside of Asia -- new options.
Those gains may be fleeting if recent developments are any guide, analysts and exporters say, making it tricky for buyers to plan future supplies as oilfields in Asia Pacific's fifth-largest producer ramp up fast but taper off just as quickly.
For instance, output from the Mutineer-Exeter oilfield, off Western Australia, has nearly halved since it came onstream 11 months ago, surprising traders who had counted on a more sustained and prolonged source of supply.
A flush of new fields will make Australia the biggest contributor to Asia-Pacific's production growth for a second year running, giving regional refiners -- who import about two-thirds of their crude from outside of Asia -- new options.
Those gains may be fleeting if recent developments are any guide, analysts and exporters say, making it tricky for buyers to plan future supplies as oilfields in Asia Pacific's fifth-largest producer ramp up fast but taper off just as quickly.
For instance, output from the Mutineer-Exeter oilfield, off Western Australia, has nearly halved since it came onstream 11 months ago, surprising traders who had counted on a more sustained and prolonged source of supply.