Naturally, in the current crisis there is much talk about finding alternative sources of fuel for the future. I thought I would have a go at explaining how different kinds of oil make different kinds of fuel and why that’s important in the discussion.

Last year, Australia used 1.1 million barrels of oil products every day. As the graph shows, over half of that (54%) was diesel. That might surprise you, but when you think about it, our industries like heavy transport, mining, agriculture, construction and tourism rely heavily on diesel. Petrol makes up a quarter of our oil use and aviation fuel, about 16%.

The type of oil a refinery uses determines how much of each type of fuel can be produced. Some oils – like QER’s kerogen-based oil – contain more diesel and aviation fuel while others, such as oil that comes out of the ground with natural gas, or by fracking, produces more petrol (or chemicals).