PERTH (miningweekly.com) – New South Wales Resources and Energy Minister Anthony Roberts has cancelled three more petroleum exploration licences (PELs), following buy-backs from resources company Dart Energy.

Earlier in March, Roberts cancelled two PELs, held by independent explorer Pangaea, launching the buy-back programme that formed part of the state government’s gas reforms.

The buy-backs provided a one-off opportunity for PEL holders to surrender their titles for limited compensation.

Roberts pointed out that the three PELs held by Dart Energy, which were granted in 2008, covered nearly one-million hectares.

“The government’s gas plan, released in November last year, outlined our path to world’s best practice regulation, putting an end to Labor’s mismanagement of the industry and we are delivering,” Roberts said.

In November last year, the New South Wales government announced sweeping reforms of its operating system, announcing plans to reset the entire system for PELs and announcing that the Office of Coal Seam Gas (OCSG) would be responsible for the assessment of all coal seam gas (CSG) exploration applications.

Under the new process, a company proposing gas exploration must prepare a review of environmental factors, which examines and responds to all potential impacts of the proposal.

“We put our gas plan in black and white last year and have already started the implementation of the chief scientist and engineer’s recommendations, as well as the regulatory reforms and actions outlined in the New South Wales gas plan,” Roberts said.

In 2014, chief scientist and engineer Mary O’Kane made a number of recommendations around the state’s CSG industry, which included designating areas for CSG extraction, ensuring high standards of engineering and professionalism in CSG companies, creating a state environment data repository, comprehensive monitoring of CSG operations with ongoing scrutiny of collected data, a well-trained and certified workforce and applying new technologies as measures to corral the CSG industry.