Acts and Legislation

The code varies little between the offshore and onshore, and only where it is necessary to recognise the requirement of other land tenures and usage. This commonality makes for more consistent and expedient administration and is far less confusing for explorers.

The basic premise for this common petroleum code is that all WA's petroleum resources and its adjacent submerged lands are reserved to the Crown, as is the right of access for the purpose of searching for, and recovering these resources. In this regard, exploration for and production of petroleum is permitted only under the provisions of legislation applying to WA and its adjacent submerged lands:

• The Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967 (WA) (PGERA67) covers all onshore areas of the State, including its islands and, in certain circumstances, areas of submerged lands internal to the State (i.e. those waters landward of the base line), other than ‘subsisting’ permit areas under the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 (WA) (PSLA82)
• The Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982  (WA) (PSLA82) applies to WA’s territorial sea, including the territorial sea around State islands, and under certain circumstances, some areas of internal waters
• The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cwlth) (OPGGSA06) applies to the submerged lands of the continental shelf beyond the territorial sea, which are within the area designated as being offshore to WA
• Both the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967 (WA) and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 (WA) are administered solely by WA, while the Commonwealth Act, in respect to the Western Australian adjacent area. is administered by a Joint Authority.  This Joint Authority comprises both the Commonwealth and State Ministers responsible for petroleum administration. The division of State and Commonwealth Waters occurs at the three nautical mile mark.

Petroleum royalties are administered and collected under State and Commonwealth legislation. Royalties collected from onshore projects are retained by the State Government, while offshore projects are shared between the State and Commonwealth in accordance with the relevant legislation. Barrow Island onshore royalties are also shared between the Commonwealth and the State.

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Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGSA) Commencement

On the 21 November 2008 the Commonwealth Offshore Petroleum Amendment (Greenhouse Gas Storage) Act 2008 received Royal Assent.  As a result the Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (OPA), which came into effect on 1 July 2008, has been renamed the Offshore Petroleum and Grrenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGSA).  The amendments to the OPA are to introduce a regulatory regime for the injection and storage of greenhouse gas substances in the Commonwealth offshores areas.  The legislation sets up a system for regulating the following activities in Commonwealth offshore areas:

• exploration and recovery of petroleum;
• construction and operation of infrastructure facilities relating to petroleum or greenhouse gas substances;
• construction nad operation of pipelines for conveying petroleum or greenhouse gas substances;
• exploration for potential greenhouse gas storage formations; and
• injection and storage of greenhouse gas substances.

The existing sections of the OPA have been renumbered under the amendment.  Due to this renumbering the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) have revised the Concordance Table and will circulate it to stakeholders.

Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (OPA) Commencement

On 1 July 2008 sections 3 to 5 of the Commonwealth Offshore Petroleum Act 2006 (OPA) commenced and the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 (PSLA) was repealed.

The OPA is a rewrite of the Commonwealth Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967.  Industry, regulators and other stakeholders were extensively consulted during the re-write.

The OPA and associated Acts effective as of 1 July 2008 are:

• Offshore Petroleum Act 2006;
• Offshore Petroleum (Annual Fees) Act 2006;
• Offshore Petroleum (Registration Fees) Act 2006;
• Offshore Petroleum (Royalty) Act 2006;
• Offshore Petroleum (Safety Levies) Amendment Act 2006;
• Offshore Petroleum (Repeals and Consequential Amendments) Act 2006;
• Offshore Petroleum Amendment (Greater Sunrise) Act 2007; and
• Offshore Petroleum Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2008.

The PSLA and associated Acts repealed on 1 July 2008 are:

• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967;
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Fees Act 1994;
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Registration Fees) Act 1967;
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Royalty) Act 1967.

The OPA received Royal Assent on 29 March 2006. It provides changes to the structure and style of the legislation with a some minor policy changes.  These changes are detailed in the Explanatory Memorandum which was prepared at the time the Offshore Petroleum Bill was introduced into the Parliament in 2005 (refer below).

To assist with the transition from the Commonwealth PSLA to the OPA, attention is drawn to the following:

1.  The OPA and related Acts can be located on the COMLAW website on the attached link.  It should be noted that the version of the OPA on the COMLAW website does not currently incorporate the amendments brought in by the Offshore Petroleum Amendment (Greater Sunrise) Act 2007 and the Offshore Petroleum Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2008. However the OPA will be updated to include these amendments on or very shortly after 1 July 2008.

2.  The Explanatory Memorandum from 2005 can be accessed on the attached link.  In the notes on the individual clause, each note about an individual clause is followed by an endnote titled "Equivalent provision in the PSL Act", indicating the section of the PSLA that corresponds to the provision of the Bill that was being discussed. If the clause in question contained one or more technical changes from the text of the PSLA, that fact was noted and the nature of the change(s) was summarised under the abovementioned endnote. If the clause contained one or more policy changes from the provisions of the PSLA, that fact was likewise noted and the nature of the change(s) was likewise summarised. The Explanatory Memorandum includes a concordance table (Annex B) which enables a quick comparison of equivalent provisions of the OPA and PSLA.

Section 15AC of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 provides that, where an Act has expressed an idea in a particular form or words and a later Act appears to have expressed the same idea in a different form of words for the purpose of using a clearer style, the ideas shall not be taken to be different merely because different forms of words were used. This means that, unless a note in the explanatory memorandum indicates that a policy change was intended in relation to a particular clause, any difference in language between the provision in the OPA and the relevant provision of the PSLA that it replaces should not be seen as reflecting an intention to change the policy set out in the original provision.

3.  The OPA includes, in Schedule 6 (section 4), transitional provisions to ensure that old titles, eligible instruments (including regulations under the PSLA, offers of title under the PSLA or delegations of Joint Authority or Designated Authority powers under the PSLA), certain acts or things done before commencement (such as applications for titles under the PSLA), conditions of old titles, and references in documents under the PSLA continue to have effect under the OPA.

For more information or clarification on the Act you can contact Mr Peter Livingston, Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, on +61 (02) 6213 7974 or email Peter.Livingston@ret.gov.au.

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