FINANCING AUSTRALIAN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AN INTERNATIONAL VIEW

Abstract

In an energy-short world, escalating inflation and rising energy prices, the development of Australia's abundant natural resources will not only propel the economy forward through the 1980's, but will also significantly add to the world's available energy resources and lessen the upward pressure on oil prices.

Enormous resources of coal and uranium are available in Australia together with modest reserves of crude oil and natural gas. The cost of developing these resources could well exceed $50 billion over the next decade. Because of the large scale and higher cost of developing these resources, increasing use of overseas funding will be needed unless taxation policies are altered in Australia to provide more internal cash flow. Joint ventures with international firms and project financing methods will be used more extensively in future to develop Australia's energy resources.