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Australia Boosts Oil and Gas Exploration Spending Above $1 Billion in 2026
Exploration outlays are projected to rise 10 percent from 2025 levels. The increase follows fuel supply strains during the Iran war and refinery closures. State governments have opened new tenders and fast-track rules.
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com. The move responds to energy security concerns after the Iran war disrupted fuel supplies. Petroleum exploration expenditure in the quarter ending March 2026 fell 4.8 percent from the prior quarter yet rose 46.2 percent from the same period in 2025, official statistics showed.
Operators continue to expand both onshore and offshore drilling despite the sequential dip. Santos is advancing the Dorado oil field and the Beetaloo shale basin. New South Wales opened its first natural gas exploration tender in ten years, while Queensland enacted legislation to accelerate critical minerals and energy projects.
Australia has closed five of its seven refineries since 2013. A fire struck one of the two remaining facilities at the start of the Iran war, prompting the government to halve the fuel excise on gasoline and diesel for three months and arrange imports from Brunei, South Korea, and China.
A March 2026 JWS Research poll found 78 percent of Australians support greater domestic oil production for fuel security, 89 percent prefer local gas development over imports, and 65 percent back fast-tracking gas projects.
Australia remains one of the world’s top LNG exporters while assessing domestic gas availability each quarter.
