Conflict in the South China Sea threatens 90% of Australia’s fuel imports: study

Fri, 9 Sep 2022 19:56:30 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/conflict-in-the-south-china-sea-threatens-90-of-australias-fuel-imports-study-188148>

"China’s sabre-rattling around Taiwan underlines the need for Australia to be
prepared for conflict in the South China Sea.

With its growing navy and air force, and the bases it has built throughout the
area, China is increasingly capable of disrupting shipping lanes crucial to
Australia’s exports and imports.

Of particular concern is our reliance on liquid fuels imported via South China
Sea shipping routes. This reliance has become more pronounced over the past few
decades as all but two local refineries have closed. So even while we export
crude oil, we import about 90% of refined fuels.

Our research team was commissioned by the Department of Defence to analyse
threats to Australia’s maritime supply chains throughout the Indo-Pacific
region (the South China Sea and East China Sea).
Get news curated by experts, not algorithms.

We calculate a major conflict would threaten routes supplying 90% of refined
fuel imports, coming from South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan,
Brunei and Vietnam.

Even if the routes between these countries and Australia do not pass through
the South China Sea, most of the crude oil these countries import to produce
that refined fuel does."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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