Find Oil and Gas expertise in Australia
Australia is rich in energy resources with significant petroleum and natural gas reserves. Petroleum accounts for a large share of energy consumption. Because of expanding consumption in a period of declining production, Australia is facing growing dependence on petroleum imports. In 2007, Australia produced an average of 560.8 thousand barrels of crude oil per day. Proven reserves of oil were estimated in January 2013 to be 3.9 billion barrels, and of gas, 3.8 trillion cubic metres.
Australia’s well-developed oil and gas pipeline is monitored by major pipeline operators, such as the Australian Pipeline Trust, which controls more than 4,300 miles of pipeline. Major multinational oil companies in Australia include Mobil, ExxonMobil, Esso Australia, Shell Australia and BP Connect.
The country is a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which the government believes has considerable potential for further development, due to Australia’s abundant resources of natural gas.
Individual states and territories have their own divisions that govern extractives, such as the Department of Mining and Petroleum in Western Australia and the Department of Mines and Energy in the Northern Territory. The federal government’s division dealing with extractives is the Department of Industry.
Acts of parliament that legislate on extractives include the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act. Within this legal framework, Australian government entities oversee the regulatory regime, together with state and territory government involvement through Joint Authority arrangements.
EITI status
Australia is not currently EITI compliant, but the government supports the organisation and has committed funding to it, as well as participating in board discussions. In October 2011 Australia announced that it would undertake a domestic pilot to test the applicability of EITI rules and principles to Australian conditions, but results are yet to be released.