Australian Regulator Provides BP Opportunity to Modify Great Australian Bight Drilling Environment Plan
Australia's National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has told BP for the second time that its plan to drill in the Great Australian Bight does not meet environmental regulatory
The regulator has now provided BP an opportunity to modify and resubmit their environment plan.
If BP accepts this opportunity, the modified plan is expected to be resubmitted by July 15, at which time NOPSEMA will recommence the assessment, the regulator said in a statement.
An opportunity to modify and resubmit is a normal part of NOPSEMA’s environment plan assessment process. In fact, NOPSEMA is required by law to provide a titleholder (the company proposing the activity) a reasonable opportunity to modify and resubmit their plan if it doesn’t meet the regulatory requirements for acceptance. NOPSEMA will typically provide two opportunities to modify and resubmit, but is not restricted to providing only two opportunities.
If a titleholder has been given a reasonable opportunity to modify their plan and NOPSEMA determines that it still doesn’t meet the regulatory requirements for acceptance then NOPSEMA will refuse to accept the plan.
BP initially submitted its Environment Plan in October 2015 and a further iteration in March 2016.
“We will now assess NOPSEMA’s feedback and work toward resubmitting our Environment Plan in the coming months,” BP said in a statement. “We have allowed sufficient time in our programme schedule for this regulatory process and continue to work toward commencing exploration drilling in late 2016, subject to the acceptance of our Environment Plan.”
BP is proposing to drill four exploration wells in Commonwealth marine waters in the Great Australian Bight. The program will seek to determine whether commercial quantities of hydrocarbon resources exist within the permit areas.
The proposed GAB drilling area has water depths of approximately 1,000-2,500m. At the closest point, the proposed GAB drilling area is approximately 400 km west of Port Lincoln and 300 km southwest of Ceduna in South Australia.