Who will own it ? Vladmir Putin is in the process of nationalising Russia's energy. Fuel is very cheap there and cheap fuel underpins living standards.

I doubt we will see a drop in the price of fuel because of the oil at Coober Pedy since too many greedy people already own this country.

Anything that comes out of the ground should be nationalized.

A saving grace is that the Arckaringa Basin is dry outback and may encounter less nimbyism compared to say eastern seabord coal seam gas. Some say the US fracking boom has already peaked, the effect being to restore 2012 US oil production to 1994 levels. A temporary reprieve at best.

Linc seem to have a knack for publicity that leads nowhere. Recall their little green car than ran on fuel from underground coal gasification. Not a peep lately. I wouldn't get my hopes up. A better idea is to expand the nearby Olympic Dam uranium mine and go nuclear for power generation. That might free up natural gas as a car fuel.

I wonder why we haven't tried a non chemical extraction method. The application of super heated steam down one drill hole, forces virtually ready to use oil up another.
Steam heated rocks also responded quite explosively to alternating cold water or better yet, liquid nitrogen/gas.
One can also see a case made for exploring and exploiting the outback deposits first, given the amount of reliable solar thermal heat available for carbon free processing.
That said, given my druthers, I'd rather explore and exploit the great barrier reef, which may even hold larger, and much more easily recovered liquid hydrocarbon reserves.
An off the shelf drilling platform would set us back around a billion. And very predictable oil finds in say the Townsville trough would pay for half a dozen more; to recover oil from larger troughs, just a little further out!
The sheer number and widespread frequency of mystery oil slicks, provide reasonable evidence, that we are sitting on a quite massive resource.
And much less environmentally harmful as recovered hydrocarbons, than shale oil!
Which in recovery and refining, can and will produce four times more comparable carbon! The more expensive oil/gas becomes, the more likely we are, to see shale resources recovered!
Traditionally, Australian oil leaves the ground as virtually ready to use, sulphur free, sweet light crude, needing only basic chill filtering to produce a superior diesel.
Locally available very low cost diesel, would save the local car industry.
I mean we already produce a diesel powered territory/cruze.
These locally built, more environmentally friendly vehicles, would command much higher sustained sales volumes, if we could power them with much cheaper, locally produced fuel!
And if so called greens would just concede that it is carbon that is killing the reef? Half gone in just the last 30 years!
Then lowering our own carbon production by around four times, by actually exploiting the reef, can't hurt, at least not nearly as much as the status quo; or, being left with virtually no other option, thanks almost exclusively to "GREEN" activists, besides developing our own shale based resources!
Rhrosty.

I love the optimisim in this article.

For a scientific and rational look at real reserves and the true state of the energy future I would suggest the author and others read this: http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-07-17/world-oil-and-gas-production-forecasts-up-to-2100

As to the statement on the first line by the author Dr Daly "Australia's massive mineral exports allowed it to weather the global recession, which began in 2008, quite nicely."

Well that seems a little odd to me. When the GFC commenced the country had little or no government debt, despite private debt closing on 100% of GDP.

Today we have public debt at +$250 billion and climbing at an increasing rate, private debt has not changed much, it has actually increased to around 105% of GDP.

If this is supposed to be good news, I would hate to see what is bad?

I admire optimism, but reality and physics also come into play and these factors are not really considered when discussing energy, particularly 'energy return on energy invested', as such, like the rest of the world we may have huge reserves, whether we can get them out of the ground at a price people can pay will be a totally other thing.

Given the on-goinging printing in the worlds major financial nations, it is only a matter of time before the whole world ponzi finance system splutters and crashes into a brick wall.

Once this happens, not if but when! Who will be left to cough up the money that will be needed to fund this extreme energy resource, no one I would suggest.

Optimism bias is an innate inbuilt human trait, unfortunately it gets us into too many blinkered views of the future, I would suggest this article is one of but many optimisitic views on the future of 'tight oil'
Cheers
Geoff

The next petro super state?
Well we could be, if only our government would get back into the oil and gas business.
As opposed to the moribund mumbling of mindless mantras, that go like broken record rhetoric, that the government has no business in business.
Tell that mad hatters tea party nonsense to the much more practical and pragmatic Singaporeans, who now refine most of our oil for us.
Or the United Emirates, or the Norwegians, who have built a truly massive, for their population, income earning sovereign wealth fund.
We simply can't wait for price gouging, tax avoiding, economy destroying multinationals to move in on us, to either exploit our native reserves, capture and massively manipulate our local market; or more likely, acquire the most easily accessed leases, then sit on them for over two or three decades, simply to maximise returns.
Returns already exceeding four trillion per.
And a huge amount of power and influence, particularly one feels, amongst a number of recalcitrant, tin eared politicians, more concerned with their post politics retirement concerns/consultancies, than any part of the genuine national interest?
Perhaps we need to ask our intending political aspirants about their plans for the peoples' national oil and gas industry?
Oil that we could recover for as little as $10.00 a barrel, as a virtually ready to use diesel!
Failing a satisfactory commitment; regardless of politic stripes, lose most support!
Or be relegated to just a one term parliament, if failing to follow through with their personally promised (in writing) commitments.
Rhrosty.

One of the things about NG/CSG/biogas, (methane) is the fact it can be consumed in ceramic fuel cells, for little or no carbon production, just mostly water vapour.
The 70% energy coefficient of the methane consuming ceramic fuel cell, is far and away the best most efficient in the world.
Examples I've seen are small enough to replace the engine in conventional vehicles.
And electric vehicles are the future in a global, carbon constrained future!
Why CNG powered ceramic fuel cell combinations, could also replace the inordinately expensive overhead wires, in trains, trolley buses and trams/light rail.
[And they could quite dramatically lower, by at least half, household power bills, if gas is reticulated to the home to power much more reliable ceramic fuel cells, which in turn provide endless free hot water.]
And a gas refill for a vehicle, has got to be much faster than any battery recharge.
Moreover, a single ceramic cell in a motor vehicle, has simply got to be much lighter than the half a ton of lithium batteries now powering the currently, most efficient electric vehicles in the world! Economies of scale could lower comparable costs!
We invented and currently lead the world in ceramic fuel cell technology?
We should be able to exploit that fact to mass produce CNG> ceramic fuel cell powered electric vehicles for the world, even if that means a government prepared to pick and back potential winners!
And we have already ploughed billions into the car industry. The only way to recoup this money, is to invest significantly more of it, preferably in (an) employee operated co-op(s)
Uninvolved uncommitted prevaricating governments have already cost us trillions in lost oil, coal and iron ore industry profits and foregone tax revenue.
And let's not forget, Leyland, Nissan and Mitsubishi!
Perhaps it is time our pollies caned the can/the endless no can do excuses, and just got on with building our own prosperity, while we yet have the resources to do it, and indeed, finally reclaim our own economic sovereignty!
I submit, those that actually care, would!
Rhrosty

Sussssssh for god's sake don't tell the greens.

Work this one out. We have a highly educated motivated population with enormous resources and energy but have a falling dollar, increasing unemployment and now debt that is consuming the future of our children.

Has anyone of OLO'S intelligencia yet to solve the riddle?

Yes Arjay,

Welcome to the world of fractional reserve banking, the US who like to print circa $85B per month, an energy system based on pulling investment capital from real wealth progressive segments of the community to one's that funnel it to loss making ventures, vis: the FIRE economy.

Welcome to reality, fortunately for a tiny number of us, realists, we recognise the innate failings of 'man'. We know its not going to end well but get on with things no matter what.

Politics aside, society is driven by profit, and the growth mantra, thus we are locked into a negative ('positive') feedback loop that will see global per-capita GDP only continue to decline as time wanders along.

Welcome to the new 'normal'.

Get used to it.

I know the 1% don't give a $%&* they have it all solved (apparently). As for the rest of you, start saving, you are going to need every penny and foot forward just to stay solvent and standing still!

We have a highly educated motivated population with enormous resources and energy but have a falling dollar, increasing unemployment and now debt that is consuming the future of our children.
Arjay,
Many Australians are obviously not as highly motivated as you would like. Australia now tops the list as the best third world country but, at several thousand other third worlders coming in every year this will soon change. Already our pensioners are worse off than our new invaders. Our education system is failing hence the above scenario. Law & Order are a thing of the past & politicians are playing musical chairs.
We're already importing the ships which bring imported goods & the occasional group of third world invaders. I wish we could import some intelligent people to start breeding here, God knows we need it. I can't think of the opposite to the term Education but that's what we have here.
What ever happened to Ethanol ?

Whatever happened to ethanol?
Well some unusually bright folk discovered that the production of ethanol creates and energy debt.
Or put another way, if the only fuel available was ethanol, you'd run out of it well before you finished harvesting the corn.
Moreover, it robbed the world of essential food, which in turn forced up the price of staples.
However, a new and Australian invented process, ferments woody weeds, grass clipping and all manner of plant sourced waste cellulose.
And simply passing biogas/NG/CSG through a catalyst, knocks of a couple of hydrogen atoms, which converts the methane into higher octane liquid methanol.
Moreover, a second stage digester, turns the waste material of ethanol production, into methane.
The waste product from that second process eminently suitable for algae production. Some algae are up to sixty percent oil, which is easily extracted via simple sun-drying and crushing.
Rhrosty.