The Australian government on Tuesday announced new measures which are expected to boost transparency in the country’s offshore oil and gas sector.
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan said in a statement that Australia already had a “comprehensive and robust regulatory regime” for the oil and gas sector, and these new measures would ensure even more information is available in the public domain.
According to the minister, these changes will include improved public consultation on potential new offshore petroleum exploration areas as well as establishing a register of interests for stakeholders interested in being consulted on future activities in an area.
Under the new changes, the environment plans submitted by oil and gas companies will be published prior they carry out any exploration or other activities in an area.
The government will also consider making changes to the transparency of compliance and enforcement activities carried out by NOPSEMA, the offshore petroleum industry safety authority.
Australia is currently the world’s second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter. Many of these projects source their gas from offshore fields, such as the Gorgon, Wheatstone, Ichthys and the Prelude development.
“The offshore oil and gas industry gas has powered our domestic industry and export sector for decades. Over that time it has had a strong operating record,” Canavan said.
“Australians can have confidence in the information used to decide where, when and how petroleum activities take place and are able to have their say during the process, as well as knowing if an incident has occurred and what action is taken to address it,” he said.
Canavan went on to say that the approval process is detailed and thorough, but there are sometimes long periods between an area being made available for exploration, exploration occurring, and production commencing.
“These new measures will ensure information is readily available throughout this time,” he said.