Australia's growing distillate demand highlights oil import dependency – Vortexa
London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – Australia's growing dependence on oil imports following the recent closure of BP's 146,000 barrel per day Kwinana refinery has been highlighted this month with the country's surging demand for middle distillates ramping up imports, reported analytics firm Vortexa Tuesday.
A bounce in jet demand ahead of the winter holiday season has seen jet fuel imports into Australia hit 80,000 barrels per day in June, almost back to pre-pandemic levels with 2019 average imports at 90,000 bpd.
The Australian Petroleum Statistics (APS) said 2020 jet sales averaged 70,000 bpd, down by around 57% from 2019 and the lowest average daily consumption since 1994. Prior to the pandemic, the APS reported Australian jet sales at 170,000 bpd in December 2019.
Meanwhile, Vortexa said a rise in mining activities has also driven up the country's diesel/gasoil imports for the third consecutive month to 425,000 b/d in June -- the second highest monthly import volume in the last four years.
Arrivals into Newcastle (New South Wales) and Mackay (Queensland) ports, home to the largest concentration of mines in Australia, have registered the largest month-on-month increases, said Vortexa.
Looking at imports by origin, combined jet fuel and diesel/gasoil imports from Singapore and South Korea accounted for 50% of the country's total imports this month, with the remaining cargoes coming from other Asian exporters.
Imports from China, the second largest supplier after Singapore in the past year, has seen a decline for three consecutive months to 55,000 bpd in June.
Australia consumed approximately 1.1 million bpd of oil in 2019, with mining, road transport and airlines accounting for most of the volume.
Australia has just two operational refineries after BP and Exxon announced plant closures in 2021. In the early 2000s, Australia still had eight major refining plants, although some have since converted to oil import terminals.
