The license applies to the transport and delivery of residual fuels and distillates and biodiesel to sea-going vessels. The supply of other fuels, such as LNG, requires a different bunker license, since different techniques are used and have different safety requirements, the port authority said on its website.

Australia’s energy transition strategy will be aligned with global directions as enunciated at COP28 where world leaders agreed to a final text of the global stocktake, which included “transitioning away” from fossil fuels and working “toward the phasedown” of unabated coal.

“The virtue of gas is that [it] can turn on and off real quickly… if you’ve got gas-fired peakers backing up your 82% renewable system that are only turned on rarely… that is a big step forward for emissions reduction,” Bowen said at a press conference.

Fossil fuels contributed 68% of total electricity generation in 2022, including coal (47%), gas (19%) and oil (2%), data from Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) showed.

Coal’s share of electricity generation has declined from 83% in 1999-2000 while the shares of natural gas and renewables has increased, the data showed.

Renewables contributed 32% of total electricity generation in 2022, the data showed.

Bowen said Australia’s fossil fuel producers must “read the text” from COP28’s decisions in order to get pointers for the future of the industry.

“This is the first time that fossil fuels have ever been mentioned in a COP decision,” Bowen said. “That is no small thing. It sends a signal to the world’s markets, investors and businesses that this is the direction of travel for countries right around the world.”

At COP28, countries agreed to contribute to “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science,” according to the final global stocktake draft text.

Umbrella group

At the closing statement of The Umbrella Group — a coalition of nations including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US where Australia is the Chair — Bowen said the group supports phase out of fossil fuels of energy systems by 2050.

Iceland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Norway and Ukraine are the other members of The Umbrella Group.

“The discussions at Dubai… has led to important milestones in our work to combat the climate crisis,” Bowen said. “We came together in solidarity at the beginning of this conference to agree to groundbreaking work on loss and damage.”

We have agreed to an ambitious new framework on the global goal on adaptation, which is very important, it elevates the role of adaptation, with globally applicable targets that lay out a direction of travel and galvanize action and support, he said.

At COP28, Australia joined at least 39 countries in the Clean Energy Transition Partnership, including US, UK , Canada and Fiji to align international investment strategies with net-zero priorities.

Australia also joined 124 countries alongside other major energy exporters the US, Canada, Norway and others, to triple global renewable energy generation capacity and double global average annual energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

Australia’s total grid level power emissions is seen at 144.69 million mtCO2e in 2023 to 98.50 mtCo2e in 2030, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.

In its latest market outlook released Dec. 13, the producer bloc forecast that global oil demand growth would continue to outpace increases in supply from non-OPEC producers, tightening the market as it enacts its next tranche of aggressive output cuts. It said it was “cautiously optimistic” about market fundamentals going forward, with economic growth stronger than expected through the first three quarters of 2023.

OPEC continues to see the so-called “call” on its crude — the amount the bloc would have to pump to balance global supply with demand — well above its current output. It estimated the Q1 2024 call on its crude at 29.68 million b/d, almost 2 million b/d higher than its November production of 27.84 million b/d, which was down 57,000 b/d on the month, according to secondary sources used by the organization to monitor output.

OPEC crude production should fall further in the coming months, with several members of the group and its allies, including Russia, committing at its Nov. 30 meeting to some 700,000 b/d of deeper production cuts, in an attempt to reverse the market’s bearish tide.

Though challenges still lurk, including the risk of recessions in major consuming countries, OPEC said its report there was “some upside potential” to the global economic outlook, “driven by accommodative monetary policies and a more favorable geopolitical landscape.”

This is despite crude prices recently hitting six-month lows, with analysts citing demand headwinds in China and growing production from the US and other key regions. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Dated Brent at $74.09/b on Dec. 13, with the benchmark in recent days hitting its lowest levels since late June.

The slump is largely the work of speculators, OPEC said in the report.

“The market dynamic was fuelled by exaggerated concerns about oil demand growth, which negatively impacted market sentiment,” OPEC stated.

US growth

OPEC said that oil demand will be supported by resilient global GDP growth, amid continued improvements in economic activity in China and growth in OECD Americas.

But the bloc is grappling with growing production outside the group. It said in its report that it is maintaining its forecasts for non-OPEC supply growth at 1.8 million b/d in 2023, and 1.4 million b/d in 2024. This comes after upward revisions earlier in 2023.

OPEC sees the US accounting for around 70% of this expansion in 2023, with American liquids production expected to increase by 1.3 million b/d year on year.

Other producers that are contributing to growing supply outside of OPEC include Brazil, Kazakhstan, Norway, Guyana, Mexico and China.

OPEC said that non-OPEC upstream investment was up 11% on the year at around $487 billion in 2023, but this is expected to fall to $482 billion in 2024.

OPEC estimated OECD commercial oil stocks at 2.818 billion barrels as of September — down 12.8 million barrels from the September, and 66 million barrels below the latest five-year average. This included an 11 million barrel increase in crude stocks, and a 23.8 million barrel fall in product stocks.