Former oil and gas executives call for faster transition to renewables in open letter

Former oil and gas executives are urging the Albanese government not to use the Middle East crisis as justification for expanding fossil fuel production, warning Australia risks locking itself into an “outdated” energy system as the rest of the world accelerates towards electrification.

In the open letter, former leaders and professionals from the sector argued that the current volatility and price shocks linked to tensions in the Middle East should instead be treated as a turning point to speed up the transition to renewable energy.

“Australia is facing an energy crossroads,” the letter states.

“The current crisis – marked by volatility, rising costs, and global uncertainty – is not a justification to double down on the past. It is an opportunity to accelerate the future.”

Among the signatories is former BP Australasia president Greg Bourne, who said fossil fuel companies have “moved on from thinking they could become an energy company”.

“That opportunity has passed, so it’s now an existential crisis,” he said.

“So, whether you call it ‘drill, baby, drill’ or ‘dig, baby dig’, they have to make emissions whilst the sun shines.”

He said oil and gas giants had long used the same global tactics to pressure governments against stronger taxation or regulation.

“The companies absolutely have always played off country against country and then depending on almost the desperation of a government at the time for economic activity, for the possibility of monetising natural resources … they fall over themselves backwards to say, ‘right, okay, go for it. Go take it.’

“So, the playbook is known on a worldwide basis.”

In late April, Mr Bourne told a Senate inquiry into Australia’s tax system for oil and gas that the industry’s pushback was “self-serving and a desperate attempt to project their super-profits.”

He told The Point that while governments had to manage short-term supply pressures and diplomacy, Australia also needed a long-term strategy focused on reducing dependence on fossil fuels altogether.

“I think we’re oddly lucky at this moment that this crisis has occurred to remind us that fully 50 per cent of the world’s oil and gas reserves are in the Middle East … so as night follows day, as once bitten, twice shy … we will get bitten again and I would put say we will be bitten again within another decade, easily.”

Which is why he thinks it’s crucial for strategic conversations with key trading partners to be happening now, alongside tactical conversations.

“It is the perfect time, but it needs to be explained very, very, very carefully to Japan and the Korea and China.”

Alex Hillman, a former climate change advisor for Woodside Energy and signatory to the letter, said parts of the fossil fuel industry were using the current crisis to push “pre-existing talking points” around expanding drilling and gas extraction.

“The oil and gas industry is coming out and saying that what we need in response to the current Middle Eastern crisis is to develop more fossil fuels in Australia,” he said.

“So, what we wanted to do [with the letter] was just point out that the solution to this … is not what the oil and gas industry is calling for.”

Mr Hillman argued the country’s vulnerability to global energy shocks was driven by its connection to international fossil fuel markets, not by a shortage of gas production at home.

“The crisis is about gas exports and liquid fuel exports from the Middle East. Australia doesn’t import gas … and doesn’t actually have material oil reserves. Australia cannot fix the issues that are happening to Australia because of the Middle East crisis,” he said.

“As long as you’re using fossil fuels and you’re connected to the global market, then you’re going to be exposed to that price volatility.”

He pointed to countries ramping up renewable energy and electrification in response to global uncertainty, including Pakistan’s rapid solar rollout after the Ukraine war and Europe’s push to speed up electrification targets.

“Fossil fuel producers think the response to every global event is more fossil fuel, but their customers are actually moving in the opposite direction and shifting away from oil and gas. Just because your only tool is a hammer doesn’t mean every problem is a nail,” he said.

The Albanese government has ruled out calls for a broader 25 per cent export tax on gas ahead of tonight’s federal budget.

The Australia Institute’s senior economist, Jack Thrower, said the Prime Minister should be listening to former industry insiders and using the energy crisis as an opportunity for reform.

“It’s good to see former oil and gas professionals recognising that more fossil fuels aren’t the solution to a crisis caused by fossil fuel dependence,” said Mr Thrower.

“While governments discuss expanding fossil fuel mining, a better option would be scrapping fossil fuel subsidies, which cost about $16 billion a year, and instead spending that money on getting Australia off fossil fuels by electrifying our industries, vehicles and households.”

The open letter urges the government to reject policies that deepen fossil fuel dependence and instead accelerate renewable energy deployment, grid modernisation and electrification initiatives.

“We encourage you to act with the foresight, courage, and responsibility this moment demands.”