PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) on Wednesday railed against the Victorian state government’s decision to maintain a moratorium on coal seam gas (CSG) exploration in the state, until a Parliamentary inquiry into the matter was concluded.

In May last year, the Victorian government announced that work plan approvals for onshore gas exploration would be placed on hold until more information was available, including evidence from a water study, community views and industry impacts.

Resource Minister Lily D’Ambrosio told the ABC on Wednesday that a Parliamentary enquiry into CSG would start this year, and said that the ban on CSG exploration would stay in place until findings were handed down.

“It is sensible for that to occur until we reach a point that the inquiry has done its job,” D’Ambrosia told the ABC.

“The community and all stakeholders can have full confidence that the inquiry that we'll be undertaking through the Parliament, an independent one, will examine every aspect of concerns right across the community.”

Appea COO for Eastern Australia Paul Fennelly said that science, state-of-the-art technology and 60 years of demonstrated gas industry operation in Australia had been ignored in favour of a year-long Parliamentary inquiry that would delay the development of new gas supplies in Victoria for years.
 
“The decision raises serious questions about whether Victoria is a state that truly welcomes investment in developing onshore gas supplies, regional economic growth, job creation and additional farming income that comes with it.”

Fennelly urged the Victorian government to immediately lift a ban on natural gas exploration to at least determine what resources were potentially available to Victorian manufacturers, businesses and households.

“The well understood process of hydraulic fracturing should also be allowed to continue on projects with licence approvals in place.”

He noted that the state government should look to the vast body of science and best-industry practice that underpinned successful onshore gas development in other parts of Australia and overseas, pointing out that Queensland for example had safely developed natural gas from coal seams for almost 20 years and more than A$60-billion was currently being invested in export projects that have created tens of thousands of jobs and will deliver economic benefits for decades to come.

“To delay much needed gas development decisions to mid-2016 is neglectful of the urgent need to secure Victoria’s gas supply as outlined by the Gas Market Taskforce.”