IT IS unlikely Australian motorists will be optimistically waiting to see whether a drop in the crude oil price translates to a lower fuel price at the bowser.
Although it seems logical that one should follow the other, Alan Evans, president of Australia's largest motoring group, the NRMA, has suggested oil companies were not always prepared to pass on savings to motorists.
The national average retail price of fuel peaked recently at 163.4c a litre.
Yesterday an NRMA-funded report by the Jamison Group suggested that oil production in Australia was soon to peak.
And yet our demand for oil continues to grow _ our vehicles consume a staggering 38 billion litres of fuel annually. This will mean an increasing reliance on oil from the Middle East.
The report also suggests that given much of our transport, industry and food production relies on petroleum the nation should endeavour to create an alternative fuel industry.
Our oil trade deficit is $10 billion and under a no alternative fuel scenario the report suggests this figure could swell to $25 billion.
The report tackles the thorny issue of biofuels and interestingly its authors do not recommend an expansion of biofuels in temperate Australia because they say ecosystems in these regions are already under stress.
Instead, there is a cautious encouragement of crops including sugar cane in tropical areas of Australia which have already been cleared.
Given Australia would do well to be less reliant on foreign oil and needs to lower greenhouse gas emissions caused by transport, it is to be hoped this report finds its way to the desks of our energy, transport and environment
ministers.
A smaller car may actually be safer
ON OTHER motoring-related matters an extensive study has found that some smaller cars can provide a perhaps surprisingly high level of protection in the event of a crash.
The study compiled by the Monash University Accident Research Centre did not rely on controlled crash testing. Instead it looked at the outcome of several million actual car crashes over a 20-year period.
The findings are readily available via the Internet and those looking at buying secondhand cars can access the research to help make a better informed purchase.