I~~ iLJ CHECK( AGAIN. ST DBLIVERY
PRIME MINISTER
F'OR MEDIA . MONDAY, 1.5 SPITUEMPAR, 1980
IAL) NS~ S T'O THE1 INTERNATIONAL PETROLB1UM CONGR1ESS
8 tY
I ail grateful to the Austrpalian IllstitiAte of Petroleum for
the n~ a~ t to oppon Ihi-s Tnternational. Petroleum Con ress.
Vin tdixII-nquished l. ist of' spt'akors and particip~ tits, covering
a eall~~ ge of 0w7nerg-y itT., ortinlq zind ex~ xporLiiwj countries,,
vf), eot(" thp im'po lce of tile subject of enlergy inl today's World.
I con( ratulate 1: 1w Akmtfrxti. z. Al tllstute f pcroleunii Oil its
it) i tiative.
The enter: gy problems fwincwj the world today concei~ n cotiin~ ieal
whalt.' vet' their1 degree of enert. y * 31dowli~ ont Anid 1thfso prolb~. rms
Can only be overcon) by mutmal ac'ceptance of thix cxI. al-enice
An a ctol lti. vo deterrniiation to conlfrolit thorn
That is Why . nq)' z: ow; s of. this kind are irnpor~ ant. F'or they
provide thcw opprtulit" Y for fo-emal. and -in fornval d i. 5ouss. on twe
nd ivldua is from) n difjferent countries;. artdl in) thi way, contt: ibute
to a better undri r3tantiing of: the total vnert. 3y pr6) hlerti.
Thizi Congnr, wi. th its Llieie of ptrtoleum, in tho Paciji. c, corno~ s
a time whein tht) taitk of dpvel. opAiq andi eificiently tiiising
otur ener'qy reisources has won j'einc otpition as one of the
mfkj) chal.) encfos to be facod by the worl1d inl tho cloni~ ng dooadem,
of thi r C'erilATry, F~ or ( Ale elerqy problem is a global probloml.
k'ailuLo to waloke app): 01pri1. a adljustrients, or a lack Of inlvestmenlt
ill ellerth sup). y, w~ ould m1: oa-n for the inwust-iraltsed COunrio,.
lowcve kprowth arAprod: uctivity higjhcr tnmlyctddInflntion.
Eor the poo.-rer developingj countl~ ics, W0,0.11ou access to energy
wqmplies, higher ener~ ly prie-i And asoiatdJowet. ) eve). s of growL
in tht major :~ ooio1can ontly mean tdeprivation and stavtionj
Worse, these cleu talln.-1w. th: 1 o potenlt tat to p) ut sei. f-sustainled
' Jr7AJl1bcyond reach for these coun tries,
EfMrqycoa ti ar o no 1. os ) Yseio-uS Vor niewly indis trialis ing
countirLo whi. c11 owC cry dlef icient Thoi o1c oIlopi. c pcospnaiTh$ are
th): eantld by the erosion of po4onti-al imarkal;, 1: 1w we-Akeningi
tht-I br alJance of p. aY nicIt'i, tht ourub" io of debt; all 1 of Which
m11, y drny thorn access to raw matouLai and coth(, n inu-ttei.; il in) Ut,
V'or thrse reasong, eneryy iI. ky ~ u hchudrins1o
IUhe inl . LcpnIdconcn Vrcunt u s And f i ncling a way o pf'"
recon(: itinq the interests of tile ojil producinq and Collsuni g " coun tI
. tf thn dowolopkid ' 1111 dEvv( lXop). flg Coi) Ult OS, wil au major. challp-ni
in the dccf-dde ahcad
-2-
It i-5 aChallengcc that our par~ t of the world, the Paci fic-region"
and neighbouring countries, must fdce in an attiltude of co-operatiay
For: 11e Pacifico region contains. a diversity of' Countijes, and from
the energy point otf view cfoul. d almost be re'jardcd as a microcosm.
importers; -and, amongst its ranks, is Tindonesia,. a member of
O. P. B. C.
Further, tho region contains a range of onorgy resources includinq
oil, coal, gas, uranitum, oil nhalte and goothermal resourcea, Tho
oiai~ aility ot somo of these is limitod, while-othe1: are sti.
tO bo developod. Nonethe less, stuoh a diverrity should enhance the
value of this cUigrC) ss as a for'um for the discuni. O. on of ei rgy.
in Hts regard, I extend a warm wo). come to our traditional. Lrad(! h
andi enorgy partnokrs and I p : tbicularly welcn~ the reprosentatives
of tho; e (: ountrLen nuch as .15audi Ar~ hia, China, Kuwait, and( theC,
Phil. ippines who are participati'q for tho first time i~ n an
Austu: alian Congress,
alho Pacigic region is playi. nq anl inc;. easinj role. inl wor~ ld economic
and political. affairzi and is dceeoping in'): ased economic
in ter: dep) endence. These dov'elopInts are refl). cited both i~ n changtjing
trade patterns and, the growi. nij role of~ orgairations such as the
Assocition of outh-Rant Asian~ Nations, the Asi. dri Development flank
and the JOconomic and Socia). ConmiiJon for A--i. a and the~ Paoi. fic.
But those de. volopments al, so refletct. the fact that this raqion
includes somle of. the world's best aconomic pcorformers. Indened, the
effecta of the industrial wvorld's economnic slow-down hial had less
impacot onl thc, three non-oil membiors of the AISRAN group of nationg.
which maintained growth rates rarngtiiq from 6 to 9% r in 1979.
For Ausralia's part, over 5O' of our oxports now go to Asian~ and
Middle zantern countei. es and tjise strengthening trade ties
riooessarily forge our tntra-regional. linkh8. As evidence of. the
A growing recognitkon of common initerests in our region, we are futidiji
a hiqh levol. non-govc'rnmental remin,' r on the Pacific community this
wu( k at the Aw. tralian National University i. n Canberra. And ASEA~ N
countries have already Looognised the nen. d for reqiOnal co-operation~
inl enetngy niatter. s by forcni. nq the ASEAN Counctl. of Ptitro). eum.
d Unitil. ecently, the Pacltfi. c region hvas imported the vast majority
or-it-, onergy )-equireme'nts. i'or. example, Japan continwts to have
a heavy relianco on oil from the middle East as the Philippine
TPhailand, and the U. S. A. However, in order to stabili-to the source
ot enerqy atipplies in Ohe futture, countrios within thct regioun aro
working to dive :. nify their: enertgy bares. The~ y an; e invetitigalAi1nq
turther nources of nnrqy; and seeking a wide~ r range of energy
stippltos. Thi. r, proev.! sn ise being aided by nuch developments as
Mexico's increaninq ability to e xpor: t oil; thn emerge-nce! of. China
as at) important onergy souirce; tht! increased rato of deve). opmeri
of1 t-heoenergy rocsourcci. iai Austriili. a and Canada; alld thea increasing
oil exports of Indonesia and Malay~~ i. a.
Inl addition, Sinigapore's oil e: fining capacity has now tjrown to.
euch oin extunt that it is a sigqni~ ficant. supplier of petroleumi
products to the regioni. / 3
3-
There is a cleat-aWarone~ s otxr region of tile challengo f AC. ingthe
world over the next 20 yeairs in) satisfyingq energy lloede..
However, tile tash, ahe! ad of un A. will indeed be a great -one and':
ill. invol. ve razpid and major re-5tructuving of our enlelqy economies,-
It will re. quire mdaivo invostments In the production. of oil, coal,
urani'. m and other traditional eneargy soul ' ces i and even more
I mUassive invoe~ nt~ il often at the edge of our: tchnological
abilitio4 W~ tho production of Synithetic œ uela froM coal., Ohaln,.
ñ 1 tar sands and tho lUiko. F'urt~ her investment will continue in the.
developmennt of altef. native liquid fuels such as Methanol and ethanol
~ and in the devalopment of renewable en( orqy -toutces3 91Ach ansolar
power.
Onl the demandl side,-there will bei a nood for even greater efforts,
patCiol.-1arly onl tile part, of induatrialined cotuntries and( their
9) ovetlnfletsf to contaili domand for energ3y, espccially for oil.,
coliristent with min~ ltailling the efficicnicy of, tile industrial base
9of otli: cokuntr.. 0s What 1,6 clear, is that-sur1; aillod eooni. c gnowth
in thle remainder of the century will require further mrfljx changes
in the Wtesto rn iqo) Jd's, ntrgy usage patterna.
It. is worth reflecting on how we have arrived at the position which
Makes these changeos imprative. over the'past five decadtus thle
worl. d, iriCludin( J. Auat: ali. 1, has come to depend on anl evoze kgreater
use of eneir'qy and a dramaticallV increasing use of oil. oil was
Seen to have many advantages over itfs alternzAtivoe; it war, checap,
abundant, easy to tranrport and to store. TIherefore, while in the
f f y Pa s-to 1975 the world'si CQM~ nrci'? 0. enlergy coisnsupt1: ion
xpandcd five-fold, oil usage increased. more than 17 fold. in 1925
coal accounted for 8 of the world's conufercial energy consumption,
hit by 1915 this figure had dizoppod to 30 and the share of oil
had risen to
Tha, si~ ngle most important reison foir the T. Alvid increaso ill oil
demand was the increasing availabiity of cheap oil, most or-which
* was beinq produce. d in t-he Misdle East and Northi Africa, rom 1950
to 1970, c). udo oil became signiftcantly cheaper inl real terms.
On 1 NoOember 1950 the pxice of a Licrrel, of Saudi Aralbian . icjht
t was $ 1JS).. 15. Tenl years latne, in 1960, the price for the same
baadr rlr. a onby 5cqltLo $ tJSI. 80.-Ten yearn~ after that, il
0.70, the price had not chesigod onec. cent. Over thiat period prices
in ( gono: at . rose by 15% resulting Wn a ribstantia). decrease inl thlereil
prhL; o of cvkudo oil. Naturally thi.-i deeirmsing real price
comlbjnod w. th, increasing supply covitdibuted to the very rapid
ino: easc in1 u. sage witnessed in the 20 years to 1970. It is now
( Aoa; -witIh the benefit of hitt. ii. qht that tile viorl d was living
off its energy capital and that thty acarce capital stock involved..:
siatuLal. t; rude oil was being rapidly depleted at a pyci. ce NYhich*
did) not rcflect it, 3 scoarcity and withiout regard for whadt would'* takc
i, place or, how much it would cost.
Then the energy crisis of 19T) and 1974 brought, a new challi eneto0
Iht oianage~ ont and tpolicies of, ; ovevnmont. Qj* 1. consumintg counlrieE
aiufferoed from a quadruplinq of pricet by oil. vxporttng sa~~ a.
a tizn,, e of oeonormic difficulty when wo ilight have ): easonablyhh. o ped>
foi: -A pi.,: gessive, less disruptive clvflge i~ n prcig o: c
F'or the worl. d as a whole, thle switch from low to 1Aihcs. oc
.1overreiiqht helpcd tratnsform a limited downtuvrn inr thoewor) I. cocnomyl.
into a full-. ucatc recessiron and wofieod an a roady~ l* s-cvious
inflation position. 4
-4
Many uountries were affected. But in Australia, as in many
overseas countrics, the response of the Government of the day was,
in itself, a transparent crisis of manaqenient and policy. There
was some d( isbelief i even a disposition to act as though the
dsa's of choap o. il could be resurrected. H-owever, events in Iran
in 1979, and a second dramatic rise in oil. prices for the decade,
have once again highlighted the nccd for the world to come to
gjrips with the energy reality.
The signs are now clear that: enorgy consujcrs ar'c dotermined to
reduoe their demand for oil to a vgigf leant degree. This
dotorndnation was highlighted An a communlcjua following the Venlnc
Nconomio Summit in June this year. Sunmit countries exprorscd
their Intention to reduce the role of oil in meeting their renergy
dlemands from 53% to 40t by 1990 (-net to greatly increase the use of
cal and ur-anium1 O. P. E. C. coontricei havc of course bcon calling
for rvducod oil demand by the industrial ised countries for 801110 time
The reduction in dem~ and, the breaking of the link between oil use
0 and growth in GDP and the development of new energy resources, will
all play mnajor-roles In the transition away from oil depondonce
over the nvxt 20 years. Australia recognises and appreciiitcs its
resonsibility An thAs area in our present age of increasing world
energy shortage.
our rich resource endowment carries with it ain international
responsibility to make our resources available on fair terms and
conditions to countriefi who arc less well endowed than ourselves.
Doveloped and de-velopingc countric$ allike are vitally dcpcndont on)
stable and scure supplies of cenergy rzeourccs, In tuirn, Austx-a. 1. a
expocts consiumingcj ountric~ n to prov~ de stable accoss to thoir
markets for our resowrces by way of long-tcrmi contracts whether
in processed or unprocssd form. This is absolutely essential if
companies are to commijt the huge amiounts of risk capital which are
necessary to bring Aur. talla's resource projects on stream in
the 1980n.
Undoniably, Austra3Aa's energy resources will become an increasingly
important source of energy to the rest of the world, Our greatest
is coal; compriing over 80% of our total, identified, economically
recoverable energy rcrourcs. It currently provides 70% to 80% of
our electricity and, In addItion, is a major and rising export
commioity, Since 1960, annual exports of coal have risen from
1.9 million tonncei to over 41 million tonnes in 1979. And these
exports are ex4pected to . incroase significantly.
For example, the X. JB. A. recently joredicted that Australia's steaming
coal exports could bu. expected t~ o rcach 35 to 40 million tonnes
annuall. y by 3990, r compared with about 6 million tonnes at present,
Australia Is well placed to meet this increasing demanei.
The changing international cnergy position has brougqht new
significance to the North-West Shelf energy project, involving
capital expenditure of $ 4 billion to * 5 billion. It will produce
natural gau, liquefied natural gas, liqluefied petrolexua gas ande
condensate, Plan. b for the project arc firming up and they providefor
the joint ventureors to coimmence exports of LNG by 18. ' I I t Ii ii~ 64 H Ij 11 Jr
It is enivisacd that 6 million tonnca of LNG a year will b) e
exported for up t~ o 20 yvars fxoni that time, The Governnment la,% t
year grainted Jong toxin vciport pcormits for the export of liMO and,
subject to the re~ quiremnts of the dciestio mana' ct I LPO. The. a e
permits provide the n~ ecessary basis for the necgutiation of I iriat,
lo~ ng-term contvacts with ovcrseasi customaers.
To0 add to our energy ondowint, IAutfalia pO~ SeSSeS about 3 6a of the
Western world Is IOW Cost. rcOaSlably asured uranium reserve~ r
Ard although anticipatcd growth of nuclear power programme* in
some countries? h-as been rceduced in tho last few yenrs, there are
signs thalt the (: ontribuitlon which nue. 1ear power call makc. to onergy
no' 3ds is being reassessed Ain the l. ight of the overridling prior ty
of rcduo~ ncj relianov on crude oil. Indeed, at the Venice ' Niin'iti
the loadern of the lorgost industrialised nations confirmcd that
they will seek erhnhaCe use of nuolear power in the future.
11" meetil4 thE-incrOIased de0MMnd 1 3foV ci~ eegcy resArceal on) e of
ouari nchalenes wi33 bc in planningj for, and coping %. ith the
necessary rail, roaid and port .1nfxa-, tructure needs, and the associated
need for skilled lcabour. it the Government's determination
that -potential development shoold not be held back by the lack of
necessary facilities, To make sure that t1, it-does not occmr,. thc
Coytvionwealth Government, together with the. ' Atatel';, is, throuqch
the Loan Council, making very large sxlms of mone y available for
energy p: urposes. But it is the invo~ tmont In additional eloctricity
9Ci4encatA jig capacity which r( pre., ients on~ e of the greatest develupment
uppr un ie in Australia. II
Tho magnitude of these possibilities is evidenced by the f act that
borrowiiig of nearly $ 3 billion have t-43ready boo~ n provided under
our infrastrticture programme for electricity cnor A. iflJ pro-jeets
alone; ando these are estimated to have a total cott of over
$ 7 hillion, In addition, fuirther electricity gocraitingc projects arc%
Under vxamination. An~ d they involve borrowings of over $ 4 billion
and total outlays of over ' J billion.
These figures convey the magnitudeñ and importance to Australia of
thosv. developrnent. Indeee, between 1950 and .1960, in! tallL'd
electricity gIenorziting capacity in Australia glrew by 165%, or
31500 megjawatts, fletwen 1960 and 1970 it qre;' by a further
~ 1501b, ox 8,400 niejawatts. 13etween 19' 10 Iald 3980 it grew by a
further 70t, or 10,000 megawtts. And on the basis of cux-rentr
Plains, installed generating capaoity is expected to rise by 2. i, 000
Mcgawatts in the decade ahead, or a further 87t;.. ' ADevelopmnents
suchia this will assist mnat. rially in enlabling Us'
to mna1 e the transition nway from over-dc. pndence onl oil. BCOOZaUSM
Au. stralian electricity . SA produced primarily from coal, we havo
been spared the very large increases in clectricity prices being.
e'xperienlced inl countries dependent. on o. il for po~ wer generzAtion.
', lhe p) rospcoti! vc avii a) bJlity of large quantities of relatively
inexpensive coa1-based electricity bas c( nerated iflterost overseas
in locating energy-intensive industries in Atn,-tralia. For in.
addition to our vast energy reserves.. Au--tralia has abundant.
rck~ erves of rnany raw materinls including baxixAto, iron orc, zinc,
anid nickel.
-6
And as the cost of oil cont. 111ues to rise, it becomor, Ancreasingly
attractive to process raw material. s In Australia, using our low
cost electricity, in preferenIce to transport~ ing them to other
countries where cnergy costs are higjher or where there is nl
doubt about the availability of the required energy.
Our ernerqy advantage, togother with the plentiful. supplies of raw
materials, has incroeasid the opportunities for the c(: onomio
processing of raw materials in Australia, And the most otitstandln
ex~ ample of tis is alluminium smeltingj. Anrnual snic~ ting oalpAc. tin
AUstralia As expected to ex4pand from 200,000 tonnes at prceen
to about 1.3 milliun tonncs over the next five years, requiring
invvotment of almost $ 3 billion.
othor aluminium projects under serious considoration could 1.1ft
the annual oapacity to over 2 rni33ion tonnes. in the second half
Of thc 1980s, We recogjnise, as a Government, that r ooUrco and
emfergy related development8 have an immense pote~ ntial1 for
genorating coonomic gjrowth in this country, and raiving tho standard
of l~ iving for all AUSnirallians. We recognise also that th. is
potontial Qan only be re~ alied In anl econoirdic environment An wWfioll
the inat; vdvc investment that will be 3-eg~ uired can proceud with
c01) 1 idence.
The central issue in achieving this conliidonce Is. the knowledge
that responsible economic managcment will cont16inue with absolute
priority being given to th6 fIght against inflation. But also of
( jreat importance is the inmplemontation of ecoonomically sound enorgy
policies, in partioular, the pricing of . indigenous crude oil at
Import parity.
' ihe importanca of using the pricing mechanism to control energy usage
was reinforced in the communique of tho Venice Summit inl Jiune
tis year, which vaidl " We must break tho existing link between
economic growth and consumption of oil, and we mean t~ o do so this
decadIe. T'his nitratc-gy requires conservIng o. 0 and substantially
incroasing production and u~ e of alternative energy nourccu.
TrO thiz. end, maximum reliance should be placed onl the price
mechanism and domstio prices for oil sihould take into Account
representative wiorld prices , Such an uncquivocal statement
is confirmation of the stand we have taken on ortide oil p~ ricing.
Prom the outset, we hnve been~ aware that such a polloy would not
be popular. Nobody likes paying more for petrol but we hanve chosen
this course not. just beciruse. it was necessary, but because we
believc~ It to be absolutely right. Full import parity pricing Is
vital if we arc to conserve our scarce suppl ies of liquid fuels,
to encourage exploration for oil, and to assist developMent of
alternative sources of energy,
The case for oil parity pricing is overwhelmfing. It . is vital that
we should price our own supplies of oil at compatitivo world prices
and not allow them to be guzzled at artificially low prics. To
allow this to happen would be an act of wanton self~ shness, ignoring
the needs of our children,. and our respongibility to provide for
thcir security.. i o#/
-7-
' itw ould be asking future jeneratioDS to ralks adjUStmntS S1
energjy usage far more drn-mati. io and diasrup~ tive thanl arc! be~ ing
asked of us today And above all, it is only by pr 1C. i rigq
inidigenous crude oil in a way which reflcots world price'-thait
we can attract the technologjy, the capJ tal and the * expertise.
required to develop alternative sources of oncrqy . ach as' Shale
oil and ethanol I
Thle chOiCe We faCe is simple. it is the choice betweenpaync* t
realistic prices for petroleumn prodlucts now or bcoming latcr, 41
boggars for fuel on thc international market at prices sUbstantAaltly.
higher than wv arc beinmg asked to pay now; locked into an
unnecesstary depenidenice on expenisi'ie anid uncertain supPl~ ic~ v of
imported oil, And those who protest the nc'. ed fox olic.! per petrol
in Australia, ignore Lhe fact that the price of AustraliarI petrol
is amongst the lowest of O. E. C. D, countries. Px. ice .311uroype
range from 55 cents a litr(-in Germany to 62 cents Ain the
United Kingdom and 78 conts in Italy, In Australia, oven with
parity pricing, our price. is still only 34 cents a litrP.
Evidencec demonstrates that our energy policy is working. Cons~ mption I
of major petroleumn proetucts in the f irst sevcri Mocnths; of thia
year was down by more than 4% on the levels inl 1979. . Petrol sales
have fallen by over The use of heatincj oil has boen rc~ duccd
by 45 lighting kerosense by 20%; power kerosenc-by 17%; and
fucl oA. 1 by TIho jncrieaso iii cost of crude oil on world marketse,
coupicd w. ith the ( Gove rnmnwt't import. parity pricing policy, ha,,:
genierated interest Sli the exploAtatitoni of phale oil deposits. The
giant Rundle project is a laessic exawtplu of this.-
Dvelopers of. this proj~ ect made it clea'r that the G~ ove~ rnm~ ent' a
pricinq policy has been crucial in theirc duci!: ions to ma~ ke the
vecry largo Invcstmenits required, The first stagje is expecoted -to
cost between $ 300 million arid $ 400 million in 1979 v~ e; al
should land to a total project cost of many billions of dollars,
eventually producing in the early 1990,,-about 200,000 bresof
syncrude a dlay, probably botween 25% and 30% ( A our expected oi
requirements at that time.
More importantly for Austra. Ua, its output A. hould Come on-stream
as Bass Strait production. declines. rn1deed, the flundle project
is likely to be the lar'gest. project undortaken ill Austrnlia an( d one
of the largest in the world. Yet it is only one of soveral rich
shale oil deposits aind if it proves to be viable it will Olost.
nertainly lead the way, with its techniology i th dvlpet
of a great new industry for Australia. Tl
Develpment qir As alr-o brexIng carriedl out ' to nrrivo at pxocese( s
for the economio convers. on of coal to oil. And JiAnt ventures
have becan set uip by Australi-i with Germanay and Japan to invo. 4tigate
these possibilities.
The response by oil e> gplorers in hustralia to the Goverrm~ cntls
pollcies raeans that exploration anid development aiL' at record
levels, arnd naready almost .1 bAllion barrcls of petroleum liquids
have been added to Axiatralia's economiically recoverable rcoserves
in the last four years. And the Btireau of Minera. 1 Raources I
ostimatc_-that in tho 12 months to December 1979, our ronervesw
of crude oil were increased by about
I.
Tihese successes, irnd the achevaients In other countri~ s, indi(: atc
that If we adopt A realistjQ long-term approach to the pricing
and Utilisation of ovir non-renewablc energy resources, then dire
predictions of an eergy-stnrved world will havo no foundation.
nlut the transItIon to less Aependen-ce. on oil arnd a maore secure
energy future will require Co-oper-ationl between the clcve3oped and
the los~ s deve~ oped countries.
The oil price increases experienced Sinrce Deccmbcr 1978 have
threatened the development strategieD o~ f non-oil developi~ ng
countriee, and havo Contz~ buted to all expeoted increase in
those countries' combined balance of trade deficit in 1980 to
$ US68 billion $ US20 billion more than it would have been. without
the 1979 prAoe incrcai. ev. Pleasingly, the difficulties have bcen
recogjnised by both the . industriallsed nd the oll exportinug
countries. For instance, thle Venice Sdmidt supported inorc-ased nid to lesrs
developed countries, with anl emphasis on holping d.-velop domstic
Cnorgy resouroes. And the countries have agreed that Elie
O. PPRIC. speuQial fund should be reconstituted as art international
aid and lend. Ing agency. It is envisagedt that this fund take
itu placo baside bodies such as the World Blank and the Asian
Development Bank and play an importanit role . Ir a. id to devvloping
countries. Co-operation of this kind io enoential in meeting our
future energy noeds.
Trhis spirit was in evidence at the iniaugxiral r~ egional ieetirag of
the Commonwea3th lleaos of Government, where renewable energy for
ruxal conxmunitien was Adentifled as a major priority. And at the
Second Conunonwelth Heado of Govexiimcnt Regional Plecting which I
recently attended in New Delhi, thc neod for clouc co-operation
in energy matters was retiffirmcd.
In the larger sphere, the United N. ationf~ t Conferonce on nciw anid
renewable energy resources, to be hold In N~ airobi in A~ ugust 1981,
provides another example of the international co-ope-ration that
wi. 11, we hopo, . oontlinue to be a feature of our .4oarch for answers
to the energy problem.
Trhough all our effortg may be expected to Improve our ablility
to winl more oil, in the Pacif ic region and elswhee, they will not
prevent an inevitable decline of crude oil as, our major enorgsource.
The answer lies in the comx., rvation of existing energy
resources; and in the developmont, in~ tho longer term, of
alternatives to oil-fired energy, I
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but the proffering of such a solution is not intended to obscure
the magnituide of the problems facing the world and the less
dvvelopod comntr. ios . in particular. This is why cortuiinication of the.
kind offered by this CongrcsB on the world energy problem insvsential,:
Inevitably there will be poInt~ s of disagreement, but the greater
understanding generated by conferences sucoh as this must heap the
long-term adjustment process, For they allow countries to-come
ftroagnekth, ero, p enin ana d reinlafotirvmealtyiv ei nfdoirgmu, stl. Lwoanys, . forI wwhisaht It heam InEssUtire-tuwteil l anbde -.
its many honoured guests a succossful cofonncefc. Alnd I have-, uI>.
nAeasure in officially ovenina this 1980 iTnternational Petroleum , Conges.' I
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