"Coal and oil would continue to supply the bulk of Australia's energy needs, although the share of gas would be expected to increase strongly", Mr Glyde noted.  Natural gas consumption would rise by 2.6 per cent a year over the OUTLOOK period to account for 24 per cent of total primary energy consumption by 2029-30, under this scenario.

"Renewable energy consumption is also projected to increase but from a smaller base", Mr Glyde said. With the support of only currently established policy measures, such as the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target, renewable energy would increase by an average annual rate of 2.4 per cent out to 2029-30.

The transport sector is the largest consumer of energy in Australia at the end use stage, but its share of total final energy consumption would fall from 39 per cent in 2005-06 to 36 per cent in 2029-30, assuming no change in current policy settings.  In contrast, with a large number of minerals and energy mining projects expected to be commissioned, in the same circumstances the mining sector"s share of total final energy consumption would increase from 7 per cent to 12 per cent over the same period.

"Australia's production of coal and gas is projected to continue to grow strongly", Mr Glyde said.  "So coal and, increasingly, LNG will continue to be major export earners for Australia.  With no change in current policy measures, coal exports would increase by more than 2 per cent a year to 2029-30 and LNG exports have the potential to grow by more than 7 per cent a year."

"Several new oil projects are expected to increase Australia's crude oil production over the next few years", Mr Glyde commented.  "However, in the longer term, the ratio of oil production to consumption is expected to fall, with Australia becoming more reliant on oil imports in the period to 2030."