Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
PERTH, Apr. 12 -- The chairman of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA), Reg Nelson, used his keynote speech to the association's annual conference in Perth to urge government to agree on strategic priorities for the Australian petroleum industry and implement appropriate policies.
Nelson said there are a number of negative perceptions within the general community about the petroleum industry that are compromising growth in the country's national wealth. This must change—and quickly—if Australia is to maximize the community's return from the national petroleum resources.
The import bill for energy could reach $25 billion (Aus.)/year within the coming decade, the bulk of it due to increased petroleum imports, he said.
Nelson said that the negative perceptions make it difficult to create a climate within governments that is responsive to the need for policy change, even though governments of both major political persuasions agree that development of Australia's petroleum resources is a national priority.
APPEA has established a number of strategic priorities for the petroleum industry. These include upgrading the national focus on exploration and broadening it to encompass both oil and gas and targeting gas development for domestic and international markets.
Nelson told conference delegates that changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax are vital, with changing the general project cost uplift factor one of the urgent priorities. Other tax measures are also required to stimulate different parts of exploration activity.
A more level fiscal playing field needs to be established between fuel types, he said.
This point was endorsed by Mark Nolan, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Corp.'s Australian operations. Nolan said the distortion between coal and natural gas should be removed.
He pointed out that gas produces 70% less carbon emissions than coal and called on government to introduce tax concessions for gas used in power generation.
