WA Petroleum Day marks milestone in Commonwealth regulatory input
| Date: | Thursday, 04 October 2018 |
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The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety’s (DMIRS) WA Petroleum Day on 14 September at the Hyatt Regency in Perth marked the first time that Commonwealth petroleum regulators have contributed major presentations.
DMIRS Executive Director Geological and Resource Strategy Jeff Haworth said WA Petroleum Day had been greatly enhanced by stronger representation from Commonwealth regulators and welcomed senior officials from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS), the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA), and the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).
“This year’s event marked a milestone with the delivery of important updates on Commonwealth petroleum policy, regulation and safety trends, helping to give a big picture view of petroleum regulation in Western Australia,” he said.
DMIRS Director General, David Smith told the audience that DMIRS was working towards rolling out Petroleum 2020, a major legislation reform that would combine three petroleum and pipeline acts into a single modern act.
“It would also reduce the number of associated petroleum and geothermal regulations from 10 to three,” he said.
Officially opening WA Petroleum Day, State Treasurer Ben Wyatt emphasised the growing importance of Western Australia’s petroleum industry by pointing out that production worth $26.6 billion in 2017-18 had increased nearly 40 per cent over the previous financial year.
A panel discussion on the role of gas in Western Australia’s energy mix was a major highlight of the day.
Mr Haworth said that the enthusiastic audience of more than 200 enjoyed a stimulating debate facilitated by KPMG senior executive and energy commentator Ted Surette and included representatives from Synergy, the Public Utilities Office, Chevron and Woodside.
The presentations included Geoscience Australia’s petroleum program, creating an interconnected gas gathering system for Western Australia, approaches to decommissioning in WA, and the Geological Survey of WA’s basin studies program.
WA Petroleum Day also featured an extensive poster display and exhibits by the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, Australian Marine Complex, Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, National Energy Resources Australia, Western Australian Energy Research Alliance and Geoscience Australia.
Posters and a selection of presentations from WA Petroleum Day can be downloaded from www.dmirs.wa.gov.au/wapetroleumday
