The Inland Oil Refinery produces specialised underground mining fuel, heating oils and other speciality solvents, and supplies a small amount of on-road diesel for the local community
The Inland Oil Refinery is in Eromanga, in south-west Queensland.As Queensland looks for more oil, a small outback refinery has proven critical for the exploration process and now expansion is on the cards.
The Inland Oil Refinery has operated in Eromanga for more than 40 years, creating small amounts of underground mining fuel that is sold to the mining sector.The refinery and its supplier say expansion is a genuine possibility as the Taroom Trough oil field opens up. abc.net.au/news/inland-oil-refinery-eromanga-may-expand/106547668In the outback town of Eromanga, about 1,000 kilometres west of Brisbane, lies a small and relatively unknown oil refinery. Inland Oil Refinery has operated in the south-west town since 1986, but now could be on the cusp of expansion as the Queensland government pushes to speed up oil projectsThe site is significantly smaller than the nation's two main refineries, only producing up to 1,250 barrels a day — around 80 times less than Ampol's Brisbane facility. Since 1986, the refinery has sourced crude oil from the neighbouring Cooper-Eromanga basin and the South Australian oil fields to produce solvents and diesel for mining as well as the local community. Despite its small scale, oil producers and mining industry experts say the refinery is a critical piece of infrastructure as Queensland gears up to increase oil projects in the Taroom Trough. Eromanga is 1,000 kilometres west of Brisbane.The Taroom Trough is a 750-square-kilometre site in southern Queensland recently approved by the state government for new oil and gas exploration.environmental groups over concerns about groundwater quality, water consumption and fossil fuel emissionsIOR chief executive Drew Morland said the Eromanga facility's output was mainly restricted by supply, with the Taroom Trough now opening the door to expansion. "The Taroom Trough is a significant emerging prospect, and if production volumes from that region grow in the way being anticipated, then it is absolutely appropriate that we consider what expanded processing capacity could look like," Mr Morland said. "I can say broadly that IOR views increased production in western Queensland as a genuine opportunity, for producers, for our refinery, for the local communities, and for Australia's fuel security more broadly. "Our customers consistently tell us they could take more of our product if we could produce more. There is genuine demand. What we need is more oil." The Inland Oil Refinery at Eromanga provides a small amount of diesel to the local community.Australian company Omega TN Pty Ltd, one of the preferred tenders for Taroom Trough operations, has been using IOR during its testing process. "During the testing phase, we're only producing up to 1,000 barrels a day which means that we can process … through the Eromanga refinery," Omega Oil and Gas chief executive Trevor Brown said."When we get up to pilot programs and extended production tests, the rate of production may be larger than the capacity of the refinery to take.""I think there would be a very strong investment case … and we'll be having discussions with them over the next several months." Bridgeport Energy produces oil in western Queensland, including operations in the Cooper-Eromanga basin further west of Eromanga. "I think we're all focused on increasing production because … our goal is to continue to supply product to IOR and because the IOR is strategically critical in my view," chief executive Christian Lange said. " critical because it supplies almost all of its diesel to our mining industry, and our mining industry in this country is the backbone of the country." The Inland Oil Refinery produces underground mining fuels, heating oils and solvents, and diesel for the local community.According to IOR, the Eromanga facility produces mostly low-emissions diesel required for underground mine operations in regional New South Wales, as well as solvents used by Australia's chemical manufacturers. UQ School of Mining Engineering professor Peter Knights said with the mining industry's large thirst for fuel, securing supply from domestic sources would now come into focus. "It means that in a crisis like this, at least you have some parts of your operation that continue to operate," Professor Knights said. " would be top of the minds of many mining executives at the moment, it would lower their risk profile … without diesel fuel, your mine stops, you have to park up your haul trucks.""Given our location, this is far more practical and less emissions-intensive than trucking oil 1,000 kilometres to Brisbane to be refined and then transporting it back again to western Queensland," Mr Morland said. Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last said in a statement that the government was working with the industry to construct additional infrastructure needed for oil production. "We will continue to engage regularly with resource companies on infrastructure requirements to get this oil to market, including building a new refinery right here in Queensland if required," Mr Last said.
Eromanga Oil Refinery Western Queensland Refinery Taroom Trough Eromanga Basin Oil Queensland Oil Drilling Oil Expansion In Queensland
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