These two 'letters to the editor' in a recent Bulletin magazine caught my eye

"The price we in Australia pay for fuel is set by OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries). The Fraser government signed the Oil Price Parity Agreement in 1978. Bass Strait oil is produced at $3 per barrel. We sell our oil under contract at $6 to $10 per barrrel and buy OPEC oil at $60 per barrel (predicted to go to $100). We export 523,000 barrels a day and import 530,000 barrels a day - a net import of 7000 barrrels a day - about what we need to import in heavy Arab crude for lubrication oil and greases. Not one drop of imported crude oil needs to go to the petrol pumps of Australia"

and another

"A lot of people can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here. There's a very simple answer: nobody bothered to check the oil. The reason for that is purely geographical. Our oil is located in Bass Strait, off the coast of Western Australia in the Indian Ocean, The Timor Sea and the Mereenie oil fields in Central Australia. Our dipsticks are located in Canberra"

Comments ..?