"We agreed to a majority of the proposals put forward after a federal review looking at removing offshore regulatory hurdles," Moore said at the 5th Annual LNG World conference. "But it's a sticking point."
Establishing the office would undercut the role of states like Western Australia in developing offshore oil and gas resources, particularly for future LNG projects, he said.
Western Australia has 135 Tcf of known natural gas resources, 95% in offshore deposits, he pointed out, calling it "ideal for export development."
With the federal election process still ongoing, "it may be some time before the national regulator issue is resolved," he added.
To smooth the regulatory approval process for LNG plants and other large-scale infrastructure projects, the ministry has been designated Western Australia's lead agency for processing mining, petroleum, geothermal, and carbon capture and storage proposals, he said.
Under the initiative, which implements the state government's lead agency framework unveiled in October 2009, DMP will assist project developers through the entire approval process and will work with other agencies where required.
This will include using application-tracking and approval-management systems to monitor the whole approval process as well as providing case management services for more complex proposals, according to the ministry's website. The ministry will "clearly measure timelines" for project evaluation, Moore said.
In addition, project developers can now lodge and pay application fees online, he said.
The ministry has also launched the Reform and Development at Resources Safety initiative. The program implements the state government's strategy to overhaul the way safety and health in the resources industry are regulated to protect those working in the mining, onshore petroleum and geothermal sectors, and ensure the safe use of dangerous goods.
Moore said the program would be applied first to mining operations and later to the petroleum industry.
His talk followed a presentation on Monday by Ann Nolan, director general of the Western Australia Department of State Development, who highlighted several State Agreements -- contracts with developers that Parliament must ratify -- designed to ensure that LNG development moves forward while protecting the environment and offering benefits to communities.
State agreements specify the right, obligations and terms of a development initiative.
A state agreement with the developers of the proposed 15 million mt/year Gorgon project, for instance, will help protect the nearby Barrow Island animal reserve. This will include managing development to prevent disturbing turtle breeding, she said. The pact also requires establishing the world's largest proposed carbon capture and storage project for LNG. The A$43 billion Gorgon project is being developed by a consortium that includes Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Tokyo Gas.
At another proposed project, the Browse LNG precinct, a State Agreement is designed to ensure that the local indigenous community in Kimberly, reaps employment and other economic development benefits from the plant.
China Chemical Weekly: http://news.chemnet.com/en/detail-1411716.html
