Action item 14.13
Progress
Complete.
Approved by decision makers.
Recommendation implemented.
That prior to the grant of any further production approvals, the Government develops and implements a financial assurance framework for the onshore shale gas industry that:
- is transparent and is developed in consultation with the community and key stakeholders;
- clarifies the activities that require a bond or security to be in place and describe how the amount of the bond or security is calculated; and
- requires the public disclosure of all financial assurances and the calculation methodology.
Completed
Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade
Department of Treasury and Finance
Action item update
Implementation
The Petroleum Legislation Miscellaneous Amendments Bill 2019 was passed in the Legislative Assembly on 24 March 2020 and assented to on 30 March 2020. The Petroleum Act 1984 was amended to allow regulations to be made to in relation to environmental securities including the calculation of that security.
The Petroleum Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 was introduced in the Legislative Assembly on 12 October 2022, passed on 1 December 2022 and assented to on 16 December 2022. Refer to Special Gazette S64 published on 19 December 2022 on the Northern Territory Government website.
Amendments to the Petroleum Act 1984 will provide for a comprehensive financial assurance framework introducing mandatory environmental remediation and petroleum infrastructure decommissioning securities as well as mandatory insurance requirements for all petroleum interests.
The Bill establishes that the Minister may determine the form of security required after taking into account any relevant direction of the Treasurer. Examples of acceptable security provided include cash bonds, bank guarantees or surety bonds.
The Bill requires that all securities held by Government be published on its website, along with the calculator or methodologies used to determine the security.