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Energy Account, Australia

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This publication presents estimates of energy assets, and physical/monetary supply and use. It also presents key indicators to support data users.

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Reference period
2018 - 2019
Released
16/12/2020
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Summary indicators

In 2018-19 energy use per household and aggregate industry intensity has continued to trend downwards:

  • Energy use per household decreased 2.2% to 130.6 GJ/ Household
  • Industry energy intensity decreased 1.4% to 1,600.4 GJ/ GVA

Defining energy intensity

Energy intensity is a ratio of energy consumed (GJ) per unit of economic output (GVA). Net energy use is used as the numerator as it represents final consumption.

Energy intensity changes can be caused by increased efficiency, structural change in industry contribution, or pricing variations.

Household energy patterns have shown that in 2018-19:

  • Net household consumption was 1,268 PJ
  • Annual energy costs per household were $5,255
     

Energy stocks

The stocks of economically demonstrated energy resources have generally increased in 2019-20:

  • Black coal stocks up 8% to 2,675,700 PJ
  • Uranium stocks up 3% to 775,208 PJ
  • Natural gas stocks up 6% to 140,483 PJ
  • Crude oil stocks down 3% to 4,414 PJ

Defining economically demonstrated energy resources

Consists of known deposits of coal, oil, gas or other fuels and metallic ores, and non-metallic minerals, etc., that are located below or on the earth's surface, including deposits under the sea, that are economically exploitable given current technology and relative prices.

Physical supply and use

Australia's net energy increased 6.4% to 25,725 PJ in 2018-19.

Energy supply

Australia's energy was supplied from:

  • Direct extraction from the environment, 23,439 PJ
  • Imports, 2,286 PJ

In terms of direct extraction Australia's energy supply came from the following commodities:

  • Black coal, 12,594 PJ
  • Natural gas, 5,599 PJ
  • Uranium, 3,580 PJ
  • Crude oil, 692 PJ
  • Brown coal, 444 PJ
  • LPG, 129 PJ
  • Wood/ wood waste, 92 PJ
  • Bagasse, 91 PJ
  • Solar energy, 71 PJ
  • Wind energy, 64 PJ
  • Hydro energy, 57 PJ
     

Renewable energy supply used for electricity has ramped up in 2018-19. Large scale wind energy and solar energy plants came online, with wind energy surpassing hydro energy for the first time. 

Energy use

Australia's energy was used by:

  • Exports, 19,523 PJ
  • Industry, 2,923 PJ
  • Households, 1,268 PJ

The remainder of energy produced was either lost in transformation or reflects inventory changes.

  1. Includes Forestry and fishing,
  2. Includes Gas, water supply and waste services,
  3. Includes Postal and warehousing,
  4. Includes Government use.

Energy exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) surpassed uranium as the second largest Australian energy export. Key energy exports in 2018-19  were as follows:

  • Black coal up 3.4% to 11,131 PJ
  • LNG up 21.3% to 4,094 PJ
  • Uranium down 6.7% to 3,558 PJ

Monetary supply and use

Calculating an average unit price utilising the monetary estimates and physical estimates from this publication may not provide accurate estimates of price change. An average unit value will reflect both price change and changes in the product mix. There are a broad range of price indexes published by the ABS for the purpose of measuring price change over time. See Methodology section for alternative sources for energy prices.

Energy supply

Australia's supply of energy products, in basic prices, was valued at $239,217 million, of which:

  • Domestic supply accounted for 84%, at $200,623 million
  • Imports accounted for 16%, at $38,594 million

Domestic supply was composed of:

  • Coal, accounting for $72,567 million
  • Electricity, accounting for $23,690 million
  • Oil, accounting for $9,248 million
  • Gas and petroleum products are not available for publication
     

a. Includes all other industries.

Energy use

Australia’s use of energy, in purchaser prices, was valued at $294,229 million, of which:

  • Domestic use accounted for 55% at $160,422 million
  • Exports accounted for 45%, at $133,807 million

Domestic use was composed of:

  • Petroleum products, $70,684 million
  • Electricity generation, $48,271 million
  • Gas, $25,943 million
  • Oil, $11,896 million
  • Coal, $3,628 million

 Major domestic users were:

  • Households consumed $50,987 million
  • Manufacturing used $28,321 million
  • Transport used $18,289 million

 Key energy exports were:

  • Coal, at $69,630 million
  • Gas, at $51,779 million

 Note that uranium exports are not valued in this account.

 

np not available for publication
a. Includes Forestry and fishing,
b. Includes Gas, water supply and waste services,
c. Includes Postal and warehousing,
d. Includes Government use.

Changes in this issue

The 2018-19 Energy Account, Australia (EAA) implemented the following changes:

  • Government use of net domestic energy indicator has been discontinued in Table 1 due to unreliable data.

In addition standard revisions may be seen in prior years due to:

  • Revisions in source data.

Data downloads

Energy Account, Australia 2018-19

Data files

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 4604.0.

Methodology

Energy Account, Australia methodology, 2018 - 2019

Media releases