In 1991, in response to the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea, a tripartite Consultative Committee on Safety in the Offshore Petroleum Industry, recommended that key outcomes of the United Kingdom Committee of Inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster chaired by Lord Cullen be implemented in Australia, and in particular that:
- a safety case regime be adopted in Australia
- performance-based regulations replace prescriptive safety rules in the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 (PSLA).
The Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967(PSLA) was amended in 1992 to establish legislation and regulations to require the preparation and submission of a safety case for every offshore petroleum facility, underpinned by provisions for penalties and enforcement measures to ensure compliance. The PSLA was replaced by the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (OPA).
The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGSA) replaced the OPA in 2008 with the addition of a system of offshore titles for the injection and storage of greenhouse gas substances in deep geological formations under the seabed. The OPGGSA is the primary legislation which governs offshore petroleum operations beyond designated state and territory coastal waters.
The OPGGSA and the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety Levies) Act 2003 provide a regulatory framework consisting of legislation and associated regulations to require the preparation and submission of a safety case for every offshore petroleum facility, underpinned by provisions for penalties and enforcement measures to ensure compliance. The associated safety regulations are the Offshore Petroleum (Safety) Regulations 2009.
The legislation and regulations are administered by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), established on 1 January 2012.
Offshore Petroleum Safety Regulation Inquiry
On 9 January 2009, the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments announced a joint independent Inquiry into the effectiveness of regulation for upstream petroleum operations. The terms of reference included a focus on the 3 June 2008 gas pipeline rupture at the Apache Energy Ltd operated facilities on Varanus Island.
The Terms of Reference for the Inquiry were altered following action by Apache Energy Ltd in the Federal Court challenging the Panel’s use of documents provided by the Western Australian Department that had been compulsorily obtained under section 63 of the Western Australian Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969. The Varanus Island incident is being addressed in a separate WA investigation.
The final reports on the offshore petroleum safety regulatory regime were released at the 9th Meeting of the Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources (MCMPR) in Darwin on 9 July 2009 by the Minister for Resources and Energy, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP.
Better Practice and the Effectiveness of NOPSA [PDF, 3MB] and Marine Issues [PDF, 1MB] investigate the role of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA), and the regulatory interface between NOPSA and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).The Inquiry was conducted by an expert panel comprising Mr Kym Bills, then Executive Director of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, and Mr David Agostini, an oil and gas industry consultant, formerly of Woodside Petroleum.
On 28 May 2010, Minister Ferguson released, for consultation, the draft Government Response to the Inquiry reports, including a response to the 2008 Review of NOPSA Operational Activities [PDF, 2.86MB]. The consultation process closed on 25 June 2010. On 23 September 2010, Minister Ferguson released the Government’s Final Response to the Reports [PDF, 280KB].
TheOffshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (National Regulator) Act 2011 amended the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGSA) to expand the functions of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) to become NOPSEMA.
NOPSEMA commenced operations on 1 January 2012 and has regulatory responsibility for occupational health and safety, structural integrity, environmental management, and day-to-day operations of offshore petroleum facilities in Commonwealth waters.
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