Environmental Register

The Petroleum Act 2000 includes provision for the protection of the environment. Under the Act licensees will:

  • Ensure that their activities that have actual or potential adverse impacts on the environment are properly managed within an Ecologically Sustainable Framework to reduce environmental damage as far as reasonably practicable and acceptable to stakeholders.
  • Eliminate as far as reasonably practicable risk of significant long term environmental damage.

In the context of the Petroleum Act 2000 the term environment is used to cover the natural, social, heritage and economic aspects of the environment.

The Petroleum Act 2000 requires that any activity can only be conducted if it is covered by an approved Statement of Environmental Objectives (SEO) for the region and land system within which it will be carried out. The SEO outlines the environmental objectives that the activity is required to achieve and the criteria upon which the achievement will be assessed. The SEO is prepared and approved on the basis of information provided by the licensee of the activity's impacts on the environment as documented in an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The preparation of the SEO may also require public consultation depending on the level of environmental impact of the proposed activity as determined by the Minister on the basis of publicly developed and disclosed criteria.

The performance of the licensee against the SEO will be publicly disclosed annually on an environmental register as will the contents of the EIRs, SEOs and details of the Minister's determination of the level of environmental impact of all proposals.

Our stakeholder's portal to environmental compliance documents (eg EIRs/SEOs; annual reports; company incident reports) for petroleum activities.

The Environmental Register Database includes environmental compliance documents (eg SEOs and EIRs, company annual reports and company incident reports) for geothermal and petroleum activities.