contentsWelcome To The APPEA Edition Of PESA News Resources
With the eyes of the world once again on the Australian oil and gas industry, what better time to raise its profile with the average man in the street and to reverse some of the "rape and pillage" publicity we receive the other 99% of the year (OK, perhaps I'm exaggerating slightly, maybe the entire world isn't watching us, but certainly large parts of Australia).
This last year there has been a great deal of focus on the coal seam gas industry which is struggling to overcome particularly bad press: Just about anyone with access to TV or the internet has seen footage of tapwater catching fire following devastating (shale) fraccing operations. The situation has become so bad in Queensland that it is almost impossible to acquire sufficient access permission from landholders to acquire even a single 2D seismic line, and a 3D survey across multiple properties is absolutely out of the question. Even the airspace above the farmland has become a no-go area, with helicopters forced to the ground at gunpoint in some cases!
Yet anyone who works in the industry knows that exploration, and particularly seismic operations have minimal impact on the environment. They certainly don't stop hens laying or the cows producing milk. And the environmental impact of a CSG operation compared with an open cut coal mining operation is like chalk and cheese. So why does the industry allow all this mis-information to proliferate? Why can't we get our side of the story across as convincingly as the greenies? Just about everyone in the country happily uses oil and gas or their derivative products every day, but don't want to accept that they have to be extracted from the ground somewhere.
Oops, gotta go. Just spotted a survey truck with what looks suspiciously like an oil company logo on the side heading towards my place. Can't quite make it out: looks like 'MIMBY' or 'NIMBY' or something like that – and I think I forgot to lock the gate this morning ...
While I go and repel this invasion, why don't you sit back with your latte and have a read of some of the great material included in this edition?
Inside this edition you will discover how the industry is coping with the trials and tribulations of the current skills crisis, as APPEA calls for reform in the industrial relations framework. The crisis has not held back Searcher Seismic as it expands its business into Norway, South East Asia and Australia. Nor has it slowed down Chevron with its gas discoveries offshore Western Australia, leading to flagged expansion of both Wheatstone and Gorgon projects.
This edition takes you all over the World through the Australian companies operating over-seas, from discussions in Vietnam about importing our LNG to AWE acquiring ownership and operatorship of the undeveloped Ande Ande Lumut [AAL] oil field offshore Indonesia.
The US has been making dramatic shifts in its gas industry, gradually morphing from a voracious user of others' natural gas to drive its industry and commerce to a voracious user of its own natural gas.
Get a dose of Ukrainophilia (the love of and/or identification with Ukraine and Ukrainians) with this edition taking you on a journey down under in the Crimea, with Australian explorers operating in the Ukraine and learn how they tackle logistical difficulties with operating on the other side of the iron curtain. A truly fascinating nation with its Orange Revolution and an an ex-con as their president elect.
Back to home base we are envious of the PESA members that attended the golf day and presentation dinner at the Avondale Golf Club.
Check out the Industry News and updates on seismic technology, LNG and the environment as the proceeding pages unfold these stories and more in another highly informative edition.
