NOPSEMA has published a five-year Decommissioning Compliance Strategy in accordance with the wider expectations of government, set out in the Ministerial statement of expectations (https://www.nopsema.gov.au/assets/Corporate/A548477.pdf) for NOPSEMA. The strategy articulates how NOPSEMA will work with its stakeholders to reinforce and clarify decommissioning related requirements, and undertake compliance activities in a risk-based way where there is a higher risk of non-compliance with the decommissioning obligations.

In the coming year, NOPSEMA’s compliance approach will focus on implementation where titleholders’ planning and progress towards decommissioning and the execution of decommissioning is not being undertaken in a timely, safe, and environmentally responsible manner. This may result in NOPSEMA taking compliance actions such as issuing directions to some titleholders specific to decommissioning and end of life requirements. The goal is to ensure that by 2023 decommissioning plans are in place for all facilities and wells where equipment or property is not in use.

To support implementation of the strategy, NOPSEMA has developed a Decommissioning Compliance Plan to ensure consistent, transparent, and risk-based compliance responses are undertaken. The plan identifies the types of regulatory compliance actions that titleholders can expect to be undertaken by NOPSEMA dependent on the risk non-compliance with decommissioning obligations.

NOPSEMA will discuss the implementation of the compliance plan with affected titleholders and will seek further information from titleholders on how they are complying with decommissioning obligations where compliance is unclear.

The Australian Government has released an exposure draft of the proposed Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Titles Administration and Other Measures) Bill 2021. The proposed Bill makes the legislative changes necessary to give effect to the government’s proposed enhanced framework for decommissioning.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: NOPSEMA