Petroleum data and precompetitive geoscience

Petroleum data acquired through work program activities within Australian jurisdictions must be lodged with governments. This data is invaluable in helping governments and the industry assess the future potential for hydrocarbon exploration and development in Australia.

APPEA advocates that governments contribute to collecting, managing and providing precompetitive geoscientific datasets through Geoscience Australia as well as state and territory geosurvey agencies. APPEA has participated in the Australian National Audit Office’s review of Geoscience Australia’s activities. APPEA’s Petroleum Data Working Group also continues to work with the federal government’s Petroleum Data Consultative Group, aiming to improve and streamline data management regulations and guidelines.

High-quality precompetitive petroleum data packages are a major factor in attracting new exploration activity into new frontiers. Preserving this data and making it more accessible is vitally important in maintaining a vibrant industry and meeting Australia’s future demand for hydrocarbons. Transferring existing data to more modern and user-friendly media will enable searching and downloading of such data using web browsers. This will make data transfer almost instant and will remove highly resource-intensive physical data transfers.

APPEA has called for the establishment of a national virtual geoscience library through common data standards that will give nationwide streamlined access. Over the past two years, federal and state governments have been working hard to create a virtual repository, with work ongoing. Similar projects have been initiated in New Zealand, Norway, the UK and other parts of the world.

The industry welcomes actions taken by various geosurvey bodies to bring petroleum geoscientific data under one nationally accessible database. APPEA will be working to see that momentum is maintained so that Australia’s petroleum data can soon be accessed from anywhere in the world.