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Excise on stabilised crude petroleum oil and condensate

Understand your excise obligations if your business deals in stabilised crude petroleum oil and condensate.

Last updated 14 May 2023

Stabilised crude petroleum oil

Stabilised crude petroleum oil (SCPO) is crude oil with the volatile dissolved gases removed, making it safer to store and transport. Stabilised crude oil and condensate manufactured, produced or stored in Australia is generally subject to excise.

Condensate

Condensate is:

  • a form of hydrocarbon that is liquid at standard temperature and pressure
  • a product you obtain as part of the process of extracting crude oil or natural gas (or both).

Excise obligations

SCPO and condensate are subject to excise when you produce them either:

  • onshore
  • within 3 nautical miles of the Australian coastline
  • offshore in the North West Shelf.

You need to hold an excise licence to produce SCPO and condensate from these areas or fields.

You don't pay excise duty for SCPO or condensate you produce at a particular field for:

  • the first 4767.3 megalitres (30 million barrels), and
  • a subsequent quantity of annual production.

You may have to pay excise duty on future production once you exceed this initial threshold quantity for a field, depending on the quantities you extract.

Excise duty on stabilised crude petroleum oil and condensate

SCPO and condensate can attract 2 lots of excise duty, including:

  • production excise duty applicable under items 20 and 21 of the Schedule to the Excise Tariff Act 1921 (the Schedule) after production thresholds are exceeded
  • excise duty under item 10 of the Schedule.

You won't have to pay the additional item 10 excise duty on SCPO and condensate if they're only used either:

  • in the recovery, production, pipeline transportation or refining of condensate or stabilised crude oil
  • as feedstock at a licensed refinery.

QC63562