NRS-12149 | Copies of submissions and transcripts of proceedings of the (Commonwealth) Royal Commission on petroleum

Comprising copies of submissions made to the Royal Commission on Petroleum which was undertaken by the Commonwealth Government and heard before Justice Collins, Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Transcripts of the proceedings from 12 June-16 October 1974 are also included.These copies were apparently held by Premier's Department.The following descriptive details and references duplicate entry CA2031 National Archives of Australia at www.naa.gov.au.The Royal Commission on Petroleum was established by Letters Patent issued on 12 September 1973 (Australian Government Gazette, No 129, 20 September 1973). The Honourable Wilfred Herbert Collins, Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, was appointed Commissioner to inquire and report on the following matters, so far as they are relevant to laws that have been, or could be, made by Parliament, namely: all aspects of the production by refining, and the marketing and pricing, in Australia of all types of petroleum, diesel and other fuels for internal combustion and jet engines, derived from any form of liquid or gaseous hydro carbons, whether such hydro carbons are produced in Australia or elsewhere, and all types of residual furnace and heating fuels and other by-products likewise derived.The Commission started collecting evidence in November 1973 after the appointment of Mr J F Kane as Secretary to the Commission on 12 November 1973. Because of the breadth and complexity of the inquiry, certain specific issues and problem areas were identified at the outset in the Letters Patent:a) the need, in the public interest, for any changes in the number, location, capacity, technology, and type of refineries in Australia of any such form of liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, and whether the allocations of the output of such fuels should be rationalized by joint operating or sharing of such refineries;b) the need for additional refinery capacity to be located within the Sydney metropolitan area to serve the needs of that area; (c) whether the prices of such fuels and other by-products are excessive and the extent to which the marketing management and trading practices, proliferation of service stations and retail outlets, and the granting of secret or other discounts, and the maintenance of a multi-tiered price structure by refineries and wholesales of such fuels, are contributed thereto;d) whether, and if so to what extent, the policies and objectives of any of the refineries or wholesalers of such fuels have contributed to price-cutting wars in any one retail sector to the detriment of other sectors; and to what extent fuel pricing by companies operating in Australia which are subsidiaries of foreign operations has been influenced or determined by the decisions of their overseas principles in such matters as inflating original prices paid to overseas crude oil producers and shipping freight thereon thus creating an artificially high landed price to the detriment of Australian consumersThe Commission collected a large body of evidence from oil companies;service station and automobile associations; government departments; gas and fuel corporations; shire councils; universities; laboratories, legal firms and private individuals. Hearings commenced in Sydney on 16 April 1975. In order to collate the highly technical and often politically sensitive evidence, the Commission employed an international oil industry firm of consultants, A D Little International Incorporated, who provided the necessary expertise in all areas of the petroleum industry.A total of six reports were prepared by the Commission, the areas covered in the reports reflecting the wide terms of reference of the inquiry. The Royal Commission took the view that the matter of shortages fell within its terms of reference. This matter was examined in the firstreport, "Shortages of Petroleum Products", presented in October 1974. (1)The second report, December 1974, set out the general factual background against which two proposals for new refineries in New South Wales were considered. (2) Although the Commission was originally concerned with only the Sydney metropolitan area, it was convenient to examine together the two proposals of BHP/Sleigh and Ampol/Total. Ampol/Total proposed an additional refinery in the Sydney metropolitan area at Kurnell Peninsular or Lucas Heights, theBHP/Sleigh submission was for a hydro-skimming refinery at Newcastle.The third report, September 1975, titled "On the circumstances of the transfer of allocated indigenous crude oil by Allied Petrochemicals Pty. Limited to ACTU-Solo Enterprises Pty. Limited", was chiefly concerned with the terms upon which the crude oil was sold by Allied Petrochemicals to ACTU-Solo. (3) This report arose out of the evidence gathered by the Commission for its fourth report on the marketing and pricing of petroleum products in Australia.The fourth report, April 1976, was a comprehensive survey of the marketing and pricing of the major petroleum product - motor spirit. (4) "National Refining Policy" was the topic of the fifth report, October 1976. (5) Much of the evidence collected for the second report was updated and extended, the specific topic was the rationalisation of refining output by joint operations. The Commission examined submissions for a small refinery at Alice Springs based on Mereenie crude oil, and a North West Shelf Refinery utilising natural gas for the de-sulphurisation and refining of foreign crude oil. The sixth and final report, "The use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas" dealt with the role of liquefied petroleum gas in the Australian energy economy. It was presented on 1 November 1976. (6)Endnotes1. Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 229 of 1974.2. Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 21 of 1975.3. Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 279 of 1975.4. Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 99 of 1976.5. Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 308 of 1976.6. Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers, No 399 of 1976.7. Borchardt, Checklist of Royal Commissions, 1960-1980, pp 102-104. (8/2450-53). 4 boxes. Note: This description (as amended) is extracted from Concise Guide to the State Archives of New South Wales, 3rd Edition 2000.

本数据集包含英联邦政府设立、由新南威尔士州最高法院柯林斯大法官主持的皇家石油委员会（Royal Commission on Petroleum）所收到的意见书副本，同时收录1974年6月12日至10月16日的庭审记录。上述副本原由州总理府保管。

以下描述性细节与参考文献与澳大利亚国家档案馆（National Archives of Australia）编号CA2031的条目完全一致，网址为www.naa.gov.au。

皇家石油委员会由1973年9月12日发布的枢密令（Letters Patent）设立（详见1973年9月20日《澳大利亚政府公报》第129号）。新南威尔士州最高法院法官威尔弗雷德·赫伯特·柯林斯阁下被任命为委员会专员，负责调查并汇报与联邦议会已制定或可制定的法律相关的以下事项：即在澳大利亚境内，由任何形式的液态或气态烃类（无论该烃类产自澳大利亚还是其他地区）炼制而成的各类石油、柴油及其他内燃机、喷气发动机燃料的生产、销售与定价全流程，以及同理衍生的各类残余炉用燃料、取暖燃料与其他副产品相关事项。

1973年11月12日，J·F·凯恩先生被任命为委员会秘书，委员会自此于同年11月开始收集证据。鉴于本次调查范围广泛且内容复杂，枢密令开篇即明确了若干特定议题与重点领域：
a) 从公共利益出发，是否需要调整澳大利亚境内此类液态或气态烃类炼油厂的数量、布局、产能、技术与类型，以及是否应通过联合运营或共享炼油厂的方式优化此类燃料产出的分配机制；
b) 是否需要在悉尼都会区内增设炼油产能，以满足该区域的需求；
c) 此类燃料及其他副产品的价格是否过高，以及炼油厂与燃料批发商的营销管理与交易行为、加油站与零售网点的泛滥、秘密或其他形式折扣的发放，以及多级价格体系的维持，在多大程度上推高了价格；
d) 此类燃料的炼油厂或批发商的政策与目标是否在任一零售板块引发了损害其他板块的价格战，若如此，其影响程度如何；以及在澳大利亚运营的外国子公司的燃料定价，在多大程度上受其海外母公司决策的影响——例如抬高向海外原油生产商支付的原价及相关运费，进而人为推高到岸价格，损害澳大利亚消费者利益。

委员会从石油公司、加油站与汽车协会、政府部门、燃气与燃料企业、郡议会、高校、实验室、律师事务所及私人个体处收集了大量证据。庭审于1975年4月16日在悉尼启动。为整理高度专业化且常涉及政治敏感性的证据，委员会聘请了国际石油行业咨询公司AD Little International Incorporated（艾德·利特尔国际咨询公司），该公司可为石油行业全领域提供必要的专业支持。

委员会共计编制了六份报告，报告覆盖的领域充分体现了本次调查宽泛的职权范围。皇家委员会认为，燃料短缺问题属于其职权范畴，该议题在1974年10月提交的首份报告《石油产品短缺》中得到了研讨[1]。1974年12月发布的第二份报告阐述了新南威尔士州两座新建炼油厂提案的通用事实背景[2]。尽管委员会最初仅聚焦悉尼都会区，但为便于审查，将必和必拓/斯利（BHP/Sleigh）与安波石油/道达尔（Ampol/Total）的两项提案合并审议：安波石油/道达尔提议在悉尼都会区的库尔内尔半岛或卢卡斯高地增设一座炼油厂；必和必拓/斯利的提案则是在纽卡斯尔建设一座加氢轻馏分炼油厂。

1975年9月发布的第三份报告题为《关于联合石油化工有限公司向ACTU-Solo企业有限公司转让分配所得本土原油的相关情况》，核心围绕联合石油化工有限公司向ACTU-Solo出售原油的条款展开[3]。该报告源自委员会为第四份关于澳大利亚石油产品营销与定价的报告所收集的证据。

1976年4月发布的第四份报告对主要石油产品——车用汽油的营销与定价进行了全面调研[4]。1976年10月发布的第五份报告主题为《国家炼油政策》[5]。该报告更新并拓展了第二份报告所收集的大量证据，核心议题为通过联合运营优化炼油产出分配。委员会审议了两项提案：一是基于米里尼原油在爱丽斯泉建设小型炼油厂的提案；二是利用天然气对进口原油进行脱硫与炼制的西北大陆架炼油厂提案。

1976年11月1日提交的第六份也是最后一份报告《液化石油气的应用》，探讨了液化石油气在澳大利亚能源经济中的角色[6]。

### 注释
1. 1974年第229号《英联邦议会文件》
2. 1975年第21号《英联邦议会文件》
3. 1975年第279号《英联邦议会文件》
4. 1976年第99号《英联邦议会文件》
5. 1976年第308号《英联邦议会文件》
6. 1976年第399号《英联邦议会文件》
7. 博尔查特：《皇家委员会清单（1960-1980）》，第102-104页（8/2450-53），共4箱。

> 注：本描述（经修订）摘自2000年第三版《新南威尔士州档案馆简明指南》。