Progress Report
1.1
On 23 June 2021, the Senate referred the inquiry into Oil and gas exploration and production in the Beetaloo Basin to the Environment and Communications References Committee, for interim report by 3 August 2021 and final report by 29 March 2022.
1.2
The terms of reference for the inquiry are:
Oil and gas exploration and production in the Beetaloo Basin, with particular reference to the Industry Research and Development (Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program) Instrument 2021, which provides public money for oil and gas corporations.
1.3
On 3 August 2021, the committee was granted an extension of time for the interim report to table by 24 August 2021. The interim report was tabled on 24 August 2021 (Interim Report).
1.4
On 8 February 2022, the committee was granted an extension of time to table the final report by 21 April 2022.
1.5
While preparing the final report, a matter of parliamentary privilege arose, leading the committee to table a second interim report on 28 March 2022 (Second Interim Report, discussed below).
1.6
On 21 April 2022, the committee was granted a further extension of time for the final report to table by 28 April 2022.
1.7
The committee requests a further extension of time for the final report to table by 2 August 2022 to allow the committee more time to consider the evidence received and to conclude its deliberations.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.8
The committee called for submissions by 7 July 2021 and received 316 submissions, 1081 form letters (with variations) and 137 short statements (less than 250 words) for the inquiry.
1.9
The committee held five public hearings for the inquiry in Canberra on 28 July 2021, 2 August 2021 and 25 March 2022, and in Darwin on 22 and 23 March 2022.
1.10
Public submissions, additional information, Committee Hansard transcripts, tabled documents, and answers to questions on notice have been published on the committee's website at www.aph.gov.au/senate_ec.
Pepper Inquiry
1.11
In 2016 the Northern Territory (NT) Government announced an immediate moratorium and Independent Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Territory (the Pepper Inquiry).
1.12
The Pepper Inquiry reported to the NT Government in 2018, making 135 recommendations that, if fully implemented, would mitigate, reduce or eliminate the risks of onshore shale gas development.
1.13
The NT Government accepted all of the Pepper Inquiry recommendations and subsequently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Government to work together to develop the Territory’s onshore shale gas industry in the Beetaloo.
BCD Program
1.14
In 2020 the Minister for Resources and Water, the Hon Keith Pitt MP, announced the Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program (BCD Program). This $50 million program provides grants of up to $750 000 to $7.5 million per well for eligible applicants (maximum three wells).
1.15
The BCD Program is funded through the Industry Research and Development (Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program) Instrument 2021 and aims to:
accelerate exploration and appraisal activities for prospective petroleum activities in the Beetaloo; and
incentivise drilling in the Beetaloo to deliver approximately 10 additional wells to build a comprehensive understanding of the resource.
1.16
In its Interim Report, the committee examined the first three funding grants of up to $21 million, which were approved in July 2021 for Imperial Oil and Gas, a fully owned subsidiary of Empire Energy Group Ltd.
1.17
Since the tabling of the Interim Report, a fourth funding grant of $7.5 million has been announced for Sweetpea Petroleum Pty Ltd (Sweetpea), a fully owned subsidiary of Tamboran Resources Limited (Tamboran).
1.18
The committee has not been able to examine the funding grant to Sweetpea, as Tamboran declined to attend public hearings when invited to do so and failed to respond to a summons from the committee to attend the 25 March hearing.
1.19
In its Second Interim Report, the committee advised of a possible contempt of the Senate, pursuant to Privilege Resolution 6(13), and the committee’s intention to seek a referral of the matter to the Senate Committee of Privileges in the 47th Parliament.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young
Chair