Industry feedback sought on proposed changes to petroleum transparency levels
| Date: | Friday, 27 March 2015 |
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DMP hosts industry information session
Proposals to increase the transparency of environmental regulation of the petroleum sector in Western Australia was the topic of discussion at an industry information session hosted by Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) on Friday 20 March.
DMP Executive Director Environment Dr Phil Gorey said the department proposed to amend petroleum and geothermal legislation and upgrade its digital databases to improve the public availability of information.
“In response to growing community expectations, the department is committed to improving the transparency of its decision making processes relating to petroleum projects,” Dr Gorey said.
“Increasing transparency levels will help give the community confidence in the development and management of petroleum projects in Western Australia by allowing them to access information online that the department receives from operators.
“The legislative amendments and system upgrades proposed will enable the release of petroleum and geothermal environmental information and data such as Environment Plans, environmental monitoring data and incident reports.”
The session, held at the department’s East Perth office, was well attended by over 60 representatives from the petroleum industry, industry associations, and State and Commonwealth Government departments involved in the regulation of petroleum.
“This session gave key stakeholders information about the proposed changes and the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to the department,” Dr Gorey said.
“The feedback received was constructive and positive, and focused on the goal of improving community understanding of the environmental regulation of the petroleum and geothermal energy industry.”
DMP is committed to ensuring that information relevant to the regulation of the petroleum and geothermal industry is open and transparent and will continue to regularly consult with stakeholders as the proposed amendments progress.
“The department encourages operators in Western Australia to voluntarily publish information about their petroleum and geothermal activities on their own websites until such time as legislative amendments have been made,” Dr Gorey said.
Any questions or feedback about the proposed amendments to the transparency arrangements can be sent to petroleum.environment@dmp.wa.gov.au.
