Australia Rejects BP´s Drilling Plan

BP’s proposal to explore for oil in an untapped area off the coast of southern Australia is rejected by the country’s offshore petroleum agency, which says the company’s environmental plan fails to meet regulatory requirements.

BP will now have time to replay and resubmit their environmental plan in accordance with Australian law, which they seem to want to take full advantage of.

However, the regulator said that it will evaluate the company’s modified plan should it be submitted again.

BP’s application to drill four exploration wells next year has been rejected by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).

“It is usual for NOPSEMA to provide initial feedback that titleholders need to address before resubmitting an updated version”, the spokesperson said.

The society last month released modelling showing an oil spill in the Great Australian Bight risked closing all fisheries from South Australia to Victoria and Tasmania.

At its closest point, the planned drilling would take place about 395 kilometers west of Port Lincoln and 340 kilometers southwest of Ceduna off South Australia.

“It’s putting … one of the world’s most significant marine wilderness areas and a few of the most important whale nurseries potentially at risk”.

“The Great Australian Bight is a priceless Australian asset”.

Neither the authority nor BP would say how the plan was found to be deficient. The Bight is a “hostile” place to work, according to BP’s website.

The Wilderness Society of South Australia, which has campaigned hard against BP’s proposal, welcomed NOPSEMA’s decision.

The Greens are likely to support the move, saying BP has a “shocking” environmental record. BP has faced opposition from environmental groups anxious about the potential for an accident more than five years after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The company said in May that it plans to start drilling in October 2016.