Yabby you are putting words in my mouth that are not coming from me, I do not want the Gov to take any risks in an oil search because I am convinced that there is very little left to find.
What I do want the Gov to do is face up to the approach of peak oil and take some precautions towards keeping the country moving as much as it will be able to.
That means conserving our resources not searching for more that is not there.
What has nationalizing my house got to do with eking out depleting reserves of oil And Gas?
To do with improving public transport to replace private cars?
No one will be able to afford to drive cars in the near future, except Electric or perhaps alternatively fueled cars.
Face it, life is going to change for you as well as everyone else/.

*I do not want the Gov to take any risks in an oil search because I am convinced that there is very little left to find.*

So Sarnian, despite the fact that all these areas have never seen
a drill, we should just accept your conviction that there is no
oil to find and you clearly don't want anyone to try.

How defeatist and foolish of you. Luckily more sensible people have
a say in these matters.I remind you that until the 60s, the
Australian Govt was convinced that we had no iron ore and the export
of iron ore was banned, until a bloke called Lang Hancock showed
that there were mountains of the stuff under our very noses.

*That means conserving our resources not searching for more that is not there.*

Well you really don't have a clue on that. Sorry, but your guesswork
is not good enough.I'd rather see some high tech oil majors take
their chance and risk their money.If the oil price goes to 300 bucks,
they might have a reason for risking even more, as long as we leave
them some of the profits to justify the risk.

If they had not drilled for gas as they have, you would not have
a clue that it was even there.

Yabby as I have said before with a question ?

In the 1980s hundred of drillings for oil where made at points in a grid iron patern right across both north and south Australia. A Victorian education department employee worked on that project and told me about it but when I tried to get info he clammed up about.

Anybody on the list know any thing about this Austrlias biggest driil or the the results.
Another source said it was done at the request of Resource minister Rex O'connors. This list does not supply sensible answers to sensible questions.

Yabby,
Things have over the last 50 years or more progressed beyond just
sticking a pipe in the ground and hoping.
When they drill these days they have a much better idea of where to
find the black gold. An article I read by Colin Campbell illustrated
this by knowing where the continental plates have been and where they
are going. He commented that that knowledge told them not to waste
their time drilling in certain places.

If I remember correctly he said that the area North of Canada would be
a waste of time for those reasons.
So that together with using earthquake pulses as well as their own
sonic systems gives them a good starting point.
There are other reasons that some areas might not be explored because
of the cost of extraction and transport at feasible oil prices.
Many areas in Australia would I think be in that classification.

*There are other reasons that some areas might not be explored because
of the cost of extraction and transport at feasible oil prices.*

Well exactly, Bazz. Oil companies don't focus on the highs but on
the lows. Not so long ago, the oil price dropped back to the 40 dollar
mark, when there was a bit of a surplus. Oil companies take note.

Once oil firmly jumps into the 1-200 Dollar price range, new areas
are opened for exploration and drilling, which we have not even
drilled yet. Next there is the political risk and financial risk.
Given that even posters here want to nationalise oil assets, the
moment that oil companies have discovered them, it is simply not
worth the risk in many countries, so little or no exploration takes
place. Venezuela for instance, has alot of undeveloped oil, but
nobody is going to invest there, so production has fallen by 40%.
Not because of a lack of oil, but because of the political situation.

Does the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) list at:
http://www.appea.com.au/oil-a-gas-in-australia/history/1959-1999.html
deal with your question PEST?