SYDNEY, APRIL 18, 2019 – Norwegian oil company Equinor’s proposal to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight should not go ahead in its current form, a leading international petroleum law expert has warned today.
In an independent report provided to Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Professor Tina Soliman Hunter, Professor of Petroleum Law and Director of Aberdeen University Centre for Energy Law, has outlined the risks of the proposed project.
The report concludes that Equinor’s current proposal is too risky to proceed given the remote location, the harsh physical environment and the lack of surrounding support infrastructure to deal with an incident.
It also says Australia’s oil spill response measures don’t meet global best practice and wouldn’t be permitted under Norwegian law.
“The proposal to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight is exceptional in terms of the risk of a drilling accident occurring and the difficulties in responding to an incident,” said Professor Tina Soliman Hunter.
“Australia is presently the only mature jurisdiction that does not require well inspections during construction and does not require the use of appropriate standards for oil well control in that environ. The Great Australian Bight is also a very remote and extreme physical environment for drilling.
“Equinor’s proposal for response measures in the case of a loss of well control in the Great Australian Bight wouldn’t be permitted by the Norwegian regulator.
“When these risk factors are added together, I do not have confidence in Equinor’s plan nor NOPSEMA’s capacity to prevent a well blowout in the Great Australian Bight.”
Equinor made its environment plan public in March and is expected to submit its plan to the Australian offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA, which will consider whether to allow the company to proceed with deep-sea drilling in the Bight.
“This report confirms the serious concerns raised by numerous parties about the risks involved in drilling in the Great Australian Bight,” said Greenpeace Australia Pacific senior campaigner Nathaniel Pelle.
“When a leading international industry expert sounds the alarm on the project based purely on risk and response factors and our sub-standard regulatory system then politicians should pay close attention.
“Equinor is proposing a lesser standard for the Bight than they would propose in the Norwegian sea, purely to cut costs. The Great Australian Bight is a national treasure we can’t afford to risk to satisfy the commercial demands of an oil company.”
Professor Soliman Hunter’s independent report was provided pro bono to Greenpeace Australia Pacific. Its scope is confined to consideration of risk and response in relation to petroleum activities within the Bight and it does not take into account the environmental, economic and social value of the Bight.
The report and media pack is available for download here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/
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For interviews with Professor Tina Soliman Hunter and Greenpeace campaigners:
Liz Stephens, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Communications Lead
0407 224469 | [email protected]