$60 billion worth of offshore infrastructure is set to be decommissioned in the coming decades, with a roadmap established to take advantage of the opportunity.
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said an offshore decommissioning industry had the potential to create thousands of new, well paid and highly skilled jobs.
Minister King said around $60 billion of offshore infrastructure, such as gas rigs, was coming to the end of their operational life and would need to be dismantled and recycled over the next 30 to 50 years, in a safe and sustainable manner to ensure the preservation of the marine environment.
She said the new Offshore Resources Decommissioning Roadmap set out a long-term plan to capitalise on offshore decommissioning.
“The decommissioning work presents an immense economic opportunity, with billions of dollars of metal and plastic needing to be brought onshore for recycling.”
Minister King said the roadmap outlined plans to capture the value of decommissioning activity here in Australia, which would scale up local industrial recycling capabilities and embed circular economy principles across the supply chain.
She said $30 million would be spent establishing an offshore decommissioning directorate to coordinate and plan industry decommissioning activity, while regulatory arrangements would be refined to ensure offshore decommissioning remained the responsibility of the resources sector and not the taxpayer.
In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding would be signed with the UK Government, to support greater collaboration and investment flows between the two countries on offshore oil and gas decommissioning and an Intergovernmental Agreement was being finalised with the Western Australia Government to help to streamline decommissioning regulations, with agreements with other states will follow.
Minister King said Wendy Kennedy, the former Chief Executive of the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning would be appointed to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority Board to advise the offshore regulator.
Explore Australia’s Offshore Resources Decommissioning Roadmap.
