Could Queensland really solve the nation's fuel crisis?

Does Queensland hold the secret key to solving the nation's fuel crisis?

And if so, how quickly can a commercial oil field be up and running - and at what cost?

They're the questions we went looking for answers to, as our A Current Affair crew drove five hours west of Brisbane to the Western Downs and the Taroom Trough.

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We should say from the outset, no one - not the companies drilling for oil and not the state government - is prepared to commit and say yes, they've struck gold.

But they have struck oil and judging by the millions of dollars being poured into test drill sites right now, you get the feeling the signs are promising.

The Taroom Trough is an area the size of Singapore, between three and four kilometres underground.

It has the potential to be the largest oil field uncovered in Australia since the 1970s, and could meet around a quarter of the nation's fuel needs.

Around a dozen acquisition wells are being drilled.

A Current Affair was given rare access to two operated by Shell QGC.

"We truly believe this basin has the potential to meet the demands of Australia,' said Vice President Krisha Venkatesan.

In his hand, a small bottle of liquid. It looks as clear as water.

"It's a high-quality crude. You can see it. It's clean, like clean diesel", he said.

The well is producing 30,000 litres of liquid condensate a day. That's around 200 barrels.

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Enough to fill up 250 family cars.

Another company drilling for oil is Omega.

"It could be a really large field here, it could be generations of production and really a big economic benefit, lots of jobs, energy security,' CEO Trevor Brown said.

One Omega well has the potential to produce up to 450 barrels of oil a day.

It's a far cry from the 1.5million barrels Australians use daily - but it's a start.

And it's clean.

"So it's an easily refined product, it's a beautiful light oil, can be turned into diesel, fuel, jet fuel, any liquid fuel," he said.

The Queensland Government began the tender process for exploration of the Taroom Trough a while ago.

But timing in politics is everything.

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And with the nation in the grips of a fuel shortage due to the conflict in the Middle East, this project has never been more important.

"My vision is I want to see us drill, refine and then store and right now we're deficient in all of them," Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told us.

"We aren't drilling enough of our own capacity, we certainly don't have enough refining capacity, and we are rock bottom when it comes to storage capabilities in the country," he said.

"Why on earth would you as a nation only have a month's supply when you're at the end of a supply chain?"

It's why Queensland is urgently pushing the Federal Government to fast-track environmental approvals for the Taroom Trough.

And it's not just the Commonwealth copping pressure.

Farmers who own properties within the Taroom Trough are feeling it too.

"People are a little bit taken aback because it's coming in hard and fast, and they really need more information," farmer Dale Stiller said.

Mr Stiller said he wanted to speak with us, so that Australians understood the land within the Taroom Trough isn't vacant wasteland - it's prime cropping land and used for grazing cattle.

"We're at the point of the year where winter crops are going to go within the next month, so either chickpeas or wheat or barley, something like that," Mr Stiller said.

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But while they're planting crops or selling cattle, farmers are also facing pressure from major companies wanting access to their land for oil.

"And so you're doing a very tough negotiation and it comes to a point, like Kenny Rogers, you've got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, but the problem is you don't know when to walk away. You can't walk away. You're tied there," he said.

"Negotiation is about reaching a business agreement with equal terms. This isn't a business deal. It is not extra money. It's compensation," he said.

Taroom Trough has been described a bit like a lake the size of Singapore, but really, that's not right at all.

Trough is a geological term - it's not a body of liquid in this case.

It refers to deep layers and valleys of rocks that formed millions of years ago underground.

In the Taroom Trough, there might be some pockets of oil and gas - but most of it is trapped in microscopic spaces between grains of sandstone.

To get it out they need to drill deep down, up to four kilometres, and then across, as far as two kilometres.

Then the fracking begins, where small explosives make tiny holes in the rocks. Water, sand and chemicals are then pumped down, creating further cracks - allowing the oil and gas to flow.

Dr Shay Dougall is an expert in Health and Safety on the impacts of energy projects on farms.

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She says if the Taroom Trough proves to be commercially viable, it will require a scale of fracking never before seen in Australia."We need to know, the farmers need to know how that is going to impact their day-to-day business.' Dr Dougall said.

From fracking, to dust from trucks and land acquisitions, Dr Dougall says the consequences for farmers haven't been prioritised.

"The approach that's been used there is a very one-sided approach where the objective is to pursue the resource. What's missing there is the farming angle," she said.

Asked if he was worried, Dale Stiller admitted he was.

"I'm worried that people aren't fully informed," he said.

"My interest is that people are fully informed, they know what their rights are, they don't sign up without good legal advice."

Premier Crisafulli said protecting the water basin was a priority for the area, with the Taroom Trough underneath the Great Artesian Basin.

The Government is also bound by strategic planning in the area, which protects cropping land from 'incomparable development'.

"This is the ideal industry for this part of Queensland," the Premier said.

"I do think there is the ability to work hand in glove so that there is a future for both, I genuinely do.

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"It's about making sure that we set a framework that people benefit - whether that's a landowner, whether or not that's a young kid who wants to work in the industry, or whether or not that's a nation that wants to take control of making sure that we can grow our own food and refine our own oil.

We can do both."

And that makes other farmers like Chris Bate and his young family excited.

"You know what, we may not be on it, but if we are, holy smokes!"

He has two small coal seam gas wells on his farm, with two more on the way.

The money he receives for hosting those wells goes back into his farm and his meat-smoking business.

There's no denying the footprint of a potential oil well would be bigger than gas, but so would the cash.

"I tell you what, I wouldn't be drinking beer tonight if it would be bloody whiskey." Mr Bate said.

"But we can't pretend to be (on top of the oil) until we know we are."

So when will we know if the Taroom Trough is viable? Australian Energy Producers CEO Samantha McCulloch says the answer could be sooner than some think.

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"Some of the developers think they can have oil flowing from Taroom as early as 2028." McCulloch said.

And she points to other untapped domestic oil sources that need exploring - like offshore of WA and the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.

"We need much faster approvals, they're taking far too long, they're duplicative and projects are being tied up for years in environmental approvals," she said.

And even then, the area will require billions of dollars from governments to get the project up and running.

Roads need upgrading.

A pipeline and a refinery need to be built.

None of that comes cheap.

Premier Crisafulli says he'll do it all.

"We have to. We have no other choice," he said.

"And there is the opportunity to get the infrastructure right. There's also the opportunity for people to get a job in the area where they grew up, not having to pack a lunchbox and head to the city. I love that."

It's a vision for the future - it's practical.

Farmers also have a future vision - but theirs is personal.

"This is not just for now, it's not just for five years. Your kids are going to be living with this as 15 plus years time," farmer Dale Stiller said.