On 25 May 2011, the Minister for Resources and Energy released the Australian Government’s final response to the Report of the Montara Commission of Inquiry. The Inquiry investigated the likely causes of the uncontrolled release of oil and gas into the Timor Sea from the Montara Wellhead Platform on 21 August 2009 and made recommendations to the Government on how to prevent future incidents. The Inquiry Report contains 100 findings and 105 recommendations, which have implications for governments, regulators, and the offshore petroleum industry. The Government’s final response confirms the establishment of a single regulator for all offshore activities in Commonwealth waters (National Offshore Petroleum and Environmental Management Authority - NOPSEMA), and the establishment of the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) responsible for all titles and data administration for offshore petroleum. The final response also includes:
- maintaining the current objective-based regulatory regime; and
- implementing a suite of initiatives aimed at strengthening and clarifying the regulatory, administrative and operating practices of the regulator and the offshore petroleum industry.
The Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism and was assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
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