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Uncle Duster's Allegorical And Enlightening Vacation
It's a long-held tradition at Camp Duster to take off in the New Year, getting in some well-deserved leisure time ahead of the year proper kicking into gear – and along with it the inevitable flood of requests, speaking engagements, technical advice and general job offers that come with the territory of being an Australian oil and gas legend.
It's not an easy business being me, and a bit of time out gives old Duster pause for thought, a moment or two to reflect on the achievements of the previous year and an opportunity to envisage the inevitable successes and victories the present year holds in store. So it was, with an exhortative grunt and whistle, I instructed the old ball and chain to trowel on the make-up, dash a bit of fragrance around the gills and pack her fake (but who knows, right?) leopard-print Louis Vuitton bags, 'cos, that's right, old Duster had booked us in for a week-long stay at one of Bali's finest, no expenses or effort spared.
Yet, even on holiday, Duster's mind is constantly ticking over. Soaking up the Indonesian sun at our lavish hotel, budgie smugglers tightly drawn and floating aimlessly atop an inflatable pool mattress, I'd decided the time was well past due for a refill and, having added a thimble of coke to my Bacardi, en route back from the bar happened upon an interesting scene that for old Duster resonated with a dual significance. A heated dispute had broken out over ownership of one of the poolside shaded deck chairs, with one lady claiming prior possession, having thrown her towel down earlier in the day. In her absence, however, another lady had moved in, placing the towel to one side, and enjoying the shaded comfort for a good few hours before the return of the previous 'owner'.
As the dispute unfolded, Duster's mind mechanically drifted to his recent perusal of the Australian Government's proposed modifications to the regulatory framework of offshore retention leases. The government's Draft Energy White Paper states:
"It is important that the retention lease framework does not provide an opportunity to indefinitely 'warehouse' petroleum resources and provides for the regular review and re-assessment of commercial potential of oil and gas fields."
Retention leases, of course, were introduced in 1985 to "encourage oil and gas explorers to work in deeper water and commercially challenging areas by providing a longer window of tenure security in which to bring discoveries into development"; however, as is further noted in the White Paper, the supply and investment landscape has since changed dramatically and technology advancements, such as deep-water drilling and the development of floating LNG, are enabling the exploration and commercialisation of previously inaccessible oil and gas fields.
Duster reckons it's a pretty fine balance to achieve. As a parochial Australian, I'd like nothing better than to see the rapid, continued growth of industry in the short-term, an increase in domestic gas supply and further greenfields exploration – and I reckon a tweaking of the current regulatory system is a necessary by-product of the forever changeable nature of industry. As noted by APPEA, however, the current retention lease regime also provides greater certainty for companies looking to make significant investments in large, long-term gas projects (the sort of projects that underpin the Australian economy), and the certainty that such tenure provides is a highly marketable, potentially long-term investment strategy for the Australian petroleum industry as a whole.
Yep, it's a fine balance that the policy framework needs to achieve. The imminent carbon tax doesn't help from an investment perspective, and the last thing the government wants to do is to create further disincentives in a highly competitive international marketplace. Duster awaits the release of the finalised white paper next year with some interest.
As the hotel staff dragged the two ladies apart, Duster readjusted his budgie smugglers and washed his tonsils with the remainder of the Bacardi and coke. Maybe they could have come to some sort of sharing arrangement? I pondered as I draped my towel over the recently vacated deck chair's cushioned back, re-entering the pool's crystal clear waters via a precision-perfect swan dive, and swimming back out to my floating mattress. Well, if one thing's for sure and certain, I told myself as I contentedly drifted off to sleep, you can't just leave a perfectly bloody good deck chair sitting there unused!
