Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation in WA: Petroleum And Geothermal Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2013

The Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 (WA) has been introduced in the Upper House in Western Australia. The Bill amends key legislation regulating petroleum and geothermal energy resources and will seek to regulate the injection and permanent storage of greenhouse gases in underground geological formations.

Currently these processes are unregulated in Western Australia other than for the Gorgon Gas Project. (The Gorgon project will be the world’s largest commercial carbon capture and storage project and is regulated via the Barrow Island Act 2003 State Agreement.)

This Bill amends the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967 and the Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969 to provide for the geological storage of greenhouse gas substances. The Bill also amends the Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969 to provide for the transport of greenhouse gas substances via pipelines. These amendments will afford property rights for greenhouse gas storage formations (geosequestration), acreage release provisions, exploration, retention and injection licences, as well as a regime to deal with long-term issues associated with injection and site closure.

Geosequestration is the deep, (2,000 - 3,000m) geological storage of carbon dioxide from major industrial sources such as fossil fuel-fired power stations, oil and natural gas processing, cement manufacture, iron and steel manufacture and the petrochemical industry. Greenhouse gas substances will be primarily carbon dioxide but may also include methane as a by-product of LNG processing. While the storage of greenhouse gas is often referred to as ‘carbon capture and storage’, the Bill does not cover the ‘capture’ of greenhouse gases as this takes place at industrial plant or power station sites.

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