Focus on State’s north at WA Petroleum Day

The Department of Mines, Industry Regulations and Safety (DMIRS) hosted its  WA Petroleum Day at the Hyatt Regency in Perth, presenting a technical perspective of the onshore and offshore petroleum industry across the State, with a particular focus on the north of Western Australia.

The one-day program on 13 September 2019, included presentations from DMIRS, Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI), and Commonwealth petroleum regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority and the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS).

Since the first Petroleum Open Day in 1999, held by the then Department of Minerals and Energy, the department has been committed to speaking directly with industry about the latest regulatory information, trends, and geo-technical data.

Officially opening WA Petroleum Day, Chief of Staff to the Minister for Energy; Mines and Petroleum Neil Roberts outlined the positive trend within petroleum exploration expenditure in WA, which has increased for the first time since 2013, from $493 million in 2017 to $672 million in 2018.

“Western Australia has attracted more than $4 billion of investment in domestic gas projects and more than $168 billion of investment in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) projects during the 10 years to 2018,” Mr Roberts said.

“The Government is working hand-in-hand with industry to establish Western Australia as an LNG hub and create new jobs.”

DMIRS Deputy Director General Dr Phil Gorey outlined the priorities of the State Government, which are directly linked to the Sharing Prosperity program and the key public sector reform themes focused on strengthening efficiency, accountability and driving high performance in the public sector to deliver better services to the community and industry.

“This is further supported by initiatives such as Streamline WA, Diversify WA and reforms with the development of the Western Australian Work Health and Safety Bill and the Hydraulic Fracture Implementation Plan,” Dr Gorey said.

“Our main areas of focus include growing regional prosperity through exploration and improving the timely completion of successful decommissioning and rehabilitation on lands no longer being actively explored, used or developed.”

The panel discussion focusing on developing the north of Western Australia was a key highlight as Rebecca Brown, Director General of JTSI, Meg O’Neill, Chief Operations Officer of Woodside, Claire Wilkinson State Director of APPEA, and Mark Coffey Head of the Office of Northern Australia joined the panel.

Latest results from geological studies included an update on Geoscience Australia’s petroleum program, Perth Basin activity update, Carnarvon SEEBASE and Kidson Seismic Survey.

Posters and a selection of presentations from WA Petroleum Day can be downloaded from: www.dmirs.wa.gov.au/wapetroleumday.