PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland government on Wednesday introduced reforms to the Land and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, paving the way for greater investment in the petroleum and gas sector.

Natural Resources and Mines Minister Andrew Cripps said the tenure reforms built on the government's plan to encourage the next generation of projects in the petroleum and gas sector, to deliver a brighter future for rural and regional Queensland.
 


“Industry expressed concerns about the current regulation for petroleum and gas tenures, describing it as cumbersome, duplicative, inflexible and overly prescriptive,” Cripps said.

“We are reducing red tape and regulation to encourage industry to invest in new projects and create jobs.”


Cripps said the immediate reforms to the Petroleum and Gas Act, which passed through the Queensland Parliament last week, would deliver significant benefits to the industry.

“We are extending the term of all current Authority to Prospect exploration work programmes from four to six years, with the associated relinquishment of 33% of the tenure also deferred to the end of the extended six-year period,” he said. 


“Industry will benefit from more flexible relinquishment arrangements and the ability to amend a work programme for an Authority to Prospect. We will also speed up the granting of petroleum lease applications by requiring a statement about the presence of commercial quantities of gas instead of the current mandatory requirements for 20% of discovered petroleum to be classified as proven and probable reserves.”
 


Cripps said the changes would allow companies to get on with the business of developing new projects with the certainty required to invest new capital.

“The benefits of these reforms will allow companies to get on the ground faster, with tenures that are more flexible and meet their commercial needs. This is good news for regional and rural communities that benefit from resource projects going ahead and don't want economic development delayed by unnecessary red tape and regulation.”

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association has welcomed the move, with COO for Eastern Australia Paul Fennelly saying that the changes represented a commonsense approach to resource development.

“A strong resource exploration sector is the backbone of the state’s resource industry, ensuring continued future access to high-quality deposits. To sustain the contribution of Queensland’s petroleum resources to the state’s economic performance in the longer term, additional high quality resources must be discovered and developed,” Fennelly said.

“Legislative changes such as these are a vital part of the Resources Q initiative that sets out a 30-year strategic pathway seeking to address sliding competitiveness and secure global investment in Queensland resources.”