While Australia's natural resource-based economy has enjoyed tremendous growth along with the rebound in commodity prices worldwide, the country's oil production continues to decline at a staggering pace. The country's production peaked at 805,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in 2000 and only averaged 490,000 bopd in the first 10 months of 2004 (Source: US Department of Energy). I expect Australia's oil production to continue to drop further in 2005 due to the lack of major new projects scheduled to come online. In this issue, I will examine many of the reasons behind Australia's precipitous oil production decline, how the country is coping with the issue and most importantly, what it means for energy investors ...[continued]