Sydney: Caltex Australia Ltd., the nation's biggest oil refiner, called for increased government funding to spur biofuels development as part of an effort to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and bolster energy security.
Australia has "inadequate funding" for biofuels, with the government devoting just $15 million (Dh55.08 million) to the technology, Julian Segal, chief executive officer of Caltex, said in a speech in Sydney yesterday. The US Department of Energy by contrast is investing more than $1 billion to advance the field, he said.
"The determination of countries like the United States and China to find sustainable solutions to liquid energy supply should not be underestimated," he said.
Caltex, the Australian refiner half-owned by San Ramon, California-based Chevron Corp, plans to sell a new "high ethanol-content" fuel later this year, Segal said.
Australia must have policies to encourage alternative fuels, he said.
Segal, who became CEO in 2009, told reporters Caltex would consider acquiring refineries in Australia if they were up for sale and "if it made economic sense." He declined to comment on Caltex's outlook for refining margins.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which operates the Clyde and Geelong refineries in Australia, may sell its "downstream" assets in the country, Goldman Sachs JBWere said Wednesday.
BP Plc runs the Kwinana refinery in Western Australia and the Bulwer Island plant in Queensland.
