Regulators in Australia gave approval last month to the $30 billion Browse gas export project in the state of Western Australia. In an email interview, Vlado Vivoda, a research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, discussed Australia’s energy security. WPR: What is the breakdown of Australia’s energy consumption, in terms of fuel types and sources, and is there any policy strategy to shift the balance? Vlado Vivoda: Australia is mainly reliant on fossil fuels, which make up 96 percent of its primary energy demand. The largest source of energy is coal, with 40 percent, followed by oil, [...]
Energy
For the first time in several decades, Iraq reclaimed its place as the second-largest OPEC oil producer in July. Iraq produced more than 3 million barrels per day (bpd) over the month, surpassing Iran, whose production fell to 2.9 million bpd. The development resulted from a combination of Iraq’s gradually increasing oil output and Iran’s decreasing production due to the growing impact of international sanctions on Iran’s energy production sector. During the past five years, Iran’s oil production has decreased by about 1 million bpd due to various multinational and unilateral sanctions on its commercial activities. Meanwhile, Iraq’s output has [...]