Environment

Legislation implemented by Australian national, state and territory governments regulates activities associated with petroleum exploration and production. Government regulatory controls require the petroleum industry to conduct its activities in ways that meet the highest standard of environmental protection.

The Federal Government is responsible for the area from 3-200 nautical miles off the coast (out to the extent of Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea). State and Territory Governments are responsible for managing and regulating most activities, including petroleum exploration and production within 3 nautical miles (5.6km) off their coasts.

In 2009 and 2010, the Montara oil and gas leak in the Timor Sea and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the United States reduced government and community confidence in the petroleum industry’s ability to operate safely and sustainably in sensitive environments.

The industry is actively responding to the testimony and evidence brought to the Montara Commission of Inquiry, the findings of the Independent Review of Offshore Safety Regulation and the lessons from the Deepwater Horizon incident. It is reviewing all elements of its operations, its practices, its response capabilities and is taking actions necessary to improve its environmental performance and reduce the risk of these incidents occurring again.

Such actions range from a reconsideration of oil spill response procedures to approaches to the assessments and management of spills, communication protocols and the need for additional research in areas such as blowout prevention and subsea oil collection.

The industry has already responded at several levels including prevention through well design, construction and operations, through to potential arrangements to ensure any response to any future emergency is as rapid and streamlined as possible. Detailed examination of the findings from these two incidents will further guide industry and government responses.

Clearly, high-profile incidents can overshadow the industry’s many positive achievements. The petroleum industry recognises its environmental and safety performance are key factors in how the sector is judged by the community and regulated by government.

Coal seam gas

Most CSG fields in Queensland and New South Wales generate water before and during early-stage gas production. This water production will increase as the CSG industry expands to meet growing domestic and export demand. Landholders in south-east Queensland are concerned about the impact of the CSG industry operations on farming activities and water tables. The industry is committed to working with landholders to minimise the environmental impacts of drilling and construction activities and disruption to farming activities.

With support from the Australian and NSW Governments, the industry has commissioned a study to collate quality data to help identify any risks associated with mining and coal seam gas development on water resources. The scope of the study is to be the whole of the Namoi Catchment in northern NSW.

The CSG industry must continue to inform and consult with stakeholders and landowners about the environmental impacts of CSG activity. But debate should be based on sound scientific research such as the Namoi Water Study now underway.

For more information, see the coal seam gas section of this website.

Marine environmental management

The industry is committed to better understanding and minimising the impact of sound exposure and seismic acquisition on marine mammals. A workshop of scientists was held on this issue in April 2009 and research into the hearing sensitivity of baleen whales, cumulative impacts, and avoidance behaviour is continuing. As research continues, the industry undertakes a range of mitigation strategies, including timing seismic exploration to avoid peak migration periods and adopting a whale exclusion zone when implementing soft-start procedures.

The industry is strongly committed to research to further improve its environmental performance and further reduce its operating environmental footprint. Maintaining a strong commitment to rigorous environmental research and focusing on evidence-based policy will deliver economic and environmental benefits for the industry and for Australia.

Over the past three years alone, oil and gas companies have invested tens of millions of dollars in new environmental studies, generating a wide range of research. These included environmental baseline research, studies on sound and other potential impacts on whales, turtles and other marine life, as well as impact studies on fauna and flora, and studies on the effects of fluids and new technologies. Such project-related research generates wider community benefits by increasing scientific knowledge and understanding of the Australian environment.

Geoscience Australia is working with oil and gas companies to archive environmental data and to use company data to build regional bathymetry and biodiversity maps that can used for marine zone management.

Oil and gas companies make great efforts to understand and protect the sensitive environments in which they operate, and the sector as a whole is among Australia’s largest supporters of environmental research.

The industry has also resolved to give greater priority to identifying and managing opportunities for cooperative research projects between industry and the Australian Government to bridge the gap in scientific opinion on the impacts of seismic exploration on whales and other marine species.

The Joint Industry Program on E&P Sound and Marine Life is about to start a major study of the behavioural response of humpback whales to sound generated by seismic sources. This $10 million research project includes several Australian researchers in partnership with global marine sound and whale experts. The results will be used to guide the design and management of seismic surveys and mitigation procedures. This, in turn, will support the industry’s ongoing case for access to marine areas and will show that petroleum operations can coexist with growing whale populations.

In recent years Australia's oil and gas industry has undertaken more than 40 research projects relating to the marine environment. A Compilation of Recent Research into the Marine Environment brings together this research together and provides a simple summary of the outcomes and findings of these projects. This volume includes 20 projects on whales and dolphins, as well as research on other wildlife and flora; fish, molluscs and crustaceans; the operational effects of oil and gas activities; and community projects and education.

Throughout 2008–09, the industry invested tens of millions of dollars to undertake several new environmental studies. A summary of all these new studies and their value to general scientific understanding of the Australian environment will be released in 2010.