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Monday, 01 December, 2008, 23:10 GMT | more >>

Oz drillers back oversight review



By Upstream staff 

Australian oil producers have welcomed a move by the inter-state Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to review the regulation of oil and gas projects falling in more than one juristiction.

The Council said yesterday it would ask its Productivity Commission to review how multi-jurisdiction projects are regulated between states and to report back within a year.

Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chief executive Belinda Robinson said: “The oil and gas industry welcomes today’s COAG outcome because for far too long oil and gas projects have suffered at the hands of competitive federalism.”

“The length and complexity of the multi-jurisdictional approvals processes and the delays and costs that this is placing on exploration, development and production decisions both in offshore and onshore areas,” she added in a statement released today.

Robinson said any move to streamline regulatory processes in Australia’s oil and gas upstream sector would particularly benefit smaller producer, who have less resources to navigate what she said could amount to between 150 and 500 separate approval processes, taking up to five years.

“By committing to reform the regulation and approvals processes for upstream oil and gas projects, Australian governments are hanging out a shingle that says ‘we are open for oil and gas business’,” she said.


Friday, 28 March, 2008, 02:51 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 03 April, 2008, 02:17 GMT

Industry nod: for a planned federal review of how Australia's state governments regulate cross-border oil and gas projects
 

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