The Western Australian Department of Mines Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) has released its latest statistics release for 2018-19.

According to the DMIRS figures, in 2018–19, WA’s mineral and petroleum industry reported record sales of $145 billion.

The bulk of the $30 billion increase on 2017–18 was the result of improved iron ore prices and increasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes as projects continue to move towards capacity.

Mineral commodities still dominate the State’s resources sector, accounting for 74 per cent, or $107 billion, of total sales value.

Of them, iron ore was the most valuable commodity, accounting for 73 per cent of mineral sales and 54 per cent of overall sales. Iron ore recorded sales valued at $78.2 billion in 2018–19, up 26 per cent on the previous year and a new record for iron ore sales values.

The petroleum sector (which comprises crude oil, condensate, LNG, natural gas and LPG), accounted for 26 per cent of the total value of WA’s mineral and petroleum sales in 2018–19. This made it the second most valuable sector after iron ore.

The sector was valued at $38.4 billion in 2018–19, an increase of 45 per cent from $26.5 billion in 2017–18.

LNG remains WA’s most valuable petroleum product, accounting for 20 per cent of all mineral and petroleum sales in 2018–19.

The value of LNG sales rose more than $10 billion from $18.9 billion in 2017–18 to $28.9 billion in 2018–19.

In 2018–19, crude oil volumes were down 34 per cent to 3.2 gigalitres (GL), while condensate production increased almost 60 per cent to 11GL.

More information on the figures can be found here.