The Australian Government applies Crude Oil Excise to eligible crude oil and condensate production from coastal waters, onshore areas, and the North West Shelf project area (exploration permit areas WA-1-P and WA-28-P) in Australian waters.
Excise liability is worked out by applying the relevant crude oil excise rate to the volume weighted average of realised f.o.b. price (VOLWARE price). The first 30 million barrels of crude oil and condensate from a field are excise exempt.
The crude oil classifications, following amendments to the Excise Tariff Act 1921
passed in September 2001 are:
- 'old' oil is crude oil discovered before 18 September 1975
- 'old' oil is excised on a progressive scale with a top marginal rate of 55 per cent of the VOLWARE price
- 'new' oil is crude oil discovered after 18 September 1975
- 'new' oil is excised on a progressive scale with a top marginal excise rate of 30 per cent
- 'intermediate scale' oil is crude oil from fields discovered before 18 September 1975 but not developed before 23 October 1984
- 'intermediate scale' oil is excised on a progressive scale with a top marginal rate of 55 per cent.
The Excise Tariff Amendment (Condensate) Bill 2008 and the Excise Legislation Amendment (Condensate) Bill 2008 are currently tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament. These Bills will give effect to the inclusion of condensate into the crude oil excise regime, but have not yet passed into law.
The Crude Oil Excise Rates
[PDF, 25KB] document shows the different excise rates applicable to different annual crude oil and condensate sales volumes.