PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The New South Wales government on Thursday announced that it would extend the freeze on petroleum exploration licence applications (PELAs) by at least a year.

In March this year, the state government announced that it would freeze all PELAs and audit existing petroleum exploration licences as it considered its options for coal seam gas (CSG) in the state.

The freeze was supposed to be lifted this month, but Resources and Energy Minister Anthony Roberts said on Thursday that the extended timeframe would allow the Office of Coal Seam Gas (OCSG) to complete its examination of current PELAs and allow the government to further assess the application process for petroleum titles.

“The New South Wales government has put in place the most comprehensive regulations for the CSG industry in the country. These regulations ensure that gas extraction from coal seams is done in a way that is safe and has minimal impacts on the environment and other industries,” Roberts said.

He noted that the framework also ensured that companies involved in the state’s gas industry met the highest standards of technical expertise and financial capability to undertake exploration.

The Minister pointed out that the state government had refused 10 PELAs since March, in regions across the state.

“A number of companies have been asked to provide further information around environment, exploration and production reporting, community consultation and work programmes,” he said.

Petroleum assessment leases will be available to companies with existing petroleum exploration licences or those who applied before the freeze.

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) on Thursday said that the New South Wales government’s decision was extraordinary in both timing and content, considering the federal government’s release of the Energy Green Paper just a day earlier, which flagged the need for an urgent uplift in New South Wales gas production.

“It also appears the announcement is set to be made just days ahead of the state’s Chief Scientist’s report into the science of gas development in New South Wales – sending a message to industry and third parties that such policy announcements are made independent of scientific consideration,” Appea said in a statement.

New South Wales consumes around a quarter of the gas used in the eastern Australia gas market, but supplies only around 1% of the gas production for that market.

The state’s 1.3-million gas customers rely on interstate producers for 95% of their supply, despite the state possessing very significant reserves and experienced gas companies willing and able to produce local gas for local consumers, Appea noted.

“New production depends upon successful exploration activity. And without new exploration and production in New South Wales, it will be very difficult to put downward pressure on New South Wales gas prices,” the industry body added.

However, Roberts said that the state government was committed to increasing its domestic supply of gas and was working to ensure only safe and sustainable gas supply projects proceeded.