Panel Sessions
Monday, 18 October • 1400-1530
“CSG to LNG”
Plaza P2
Panelists: David Maxwell, Senior Vice President, QGC; Martin Riley, General Manager Queensland CSG, Origin (Invited); Al Mueller, Vice President, Operating Services, Arrow Energy Ltd.
In 2000 Australian coal seam gas (CSG) production was 10 Petajoules and since then annual production has increased more than ten-fold. Australian CSG is now presented as a viable entry into the international gas market, with traditional LNG producers looking to quickly diversify sources of supply. This has led to major investment proposals in CSG for LNG by BG Group/QGC, Conoco/Origin, Petronas/Santos and Shell/Arrow. Simultaneously, domestic gas demand is likely to increase with environmental concerns and the introduction of an emissions trading framework, driving a move towards less carbon intensive energy sources.
Over the past few years, Western Australia and Queensland have expressed concerns that adequate domestic supplies remain to provide growth in supply to current and future expectations. However, both states are reluctant to scare away projects that will provide significant benefits to their respective economies.
Finally, all of this relies on a massive expansion in coal seam gas development and infrastructure requirements to achieve these goals. How is this being managed or hindered by public perception and governmental regulations?. This forum will bring many of the key players together to discuss the current factors and challenges facing the industry in achieving their goal while meeting stakeholder concerns, including:
- What is the status of current projects?
- How are companies managing reserves growth to supply international and domestic markets?
- What has been the companies’ experience in negotiating the regulatory framework?
- What infrastructure needs are required to facilitate these key developments?
What is the market perception of the lower margin and lower energy value CSG to LNG, compared with more conventional LNG sources?
Tuesday, 19 October • 1600-1730
“Petroleum Resources and Reserves”
Plaza P2
Panelists: Greg Horton, Chief Reserves Engineer, Santos Ltd.; Geoff Barker, Partner, RISC Pty. Ltd.; Frank Connolly, Australian Securities and Investments Commission; Clay Jones, Director and Chief Engineer, Project; Finance, Societé Generale
In 2007 SPE, the AAPG, the World Petroleum Council, and the SPEE jointly issued the Petroleum Resources Management System. This was an update to previously issued guides and standards pertaining to the estimation and auditing of petroleum reserve information.
Shortly thereafter, the Australian Stock Exchange issued a proposal (exposure draft) to bring the relevant part of its own Listing Rules into line with the PRMS by specifically indicating that it (along with other systems) is an acceptable system for resource reporting. That proposal has yet to be implemented, leaving ASX-listed companies in a state of semi-limbo.
In 2008, after 25 years of enforcing its own, rather onerous and limiting requirements the SEC in the USA also proposed a modernizing if its rules by moving towards endorsing the PRMS as an acceptable reporting standard, at least in part. But US petroleum companies are still waiting for clarification of exactly how to interpret and implement the new rules. This is a confusing situation.
In the meantime, we have seen a boom in the Coal Seam Methane industry here in Queensland. As the industry expands at breakneck speed, volumes of CSM being reported in the press and elsewhere do not always appear to follow the guidelines of the PRMS. Why not?
Some major companies have walked away from probabilistic estimation methods, while others still prefer it over the traditional deterministic methods. We see an almost ad hoc mixture of proved, probable, possible, P90, P50 and P10 numbers being quoted. How are management, bankers and investors supposed to understand the subtleties of the differences?
Is there one set of standards for conventional petroleum resources, and a different set for CSM? If companies list in the US, what are the differences between the PRMS and the revised SEC rules? Why are there any differences at all?
A panel has been assembled with specific expertise in the area of petroleum resource and reserves: from the points of view of estimation and auditing, market regulation, petroleum company reporting, and the technical financier.
Between the panel and the audience, we anticipate a lively debate.
Wednesday, 20 October • 0830-1000
“Environmental Management”
Plaza P2
Panelists: Arno Schaaf, Business Development Director, Petroleum and Geothermal, CSIRO; Tasman Graham, General Manager- Infrastructure (General Management), WorleyParson; Byson Bates, Theme Leader, Climate Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO
Climate change is a serious threat facing our society. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that man-made emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) of which carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most prolific, are contributing to increases in global temperatures and leading to climate change. Tim Flannery (Australian of the year 2007) has summarised this in his book “The Weather Makers” and a more detailed scientific explanation is given in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.
The principal sources of emissions are industry (power, cement, aluminium, steel etc.) and transport. Power generation from burning coal is the most intensive in releasing CO2. The Oil and Gas industry is a significant contributor as well with emissions coming from production, LNG and refining operations.
Based on the recently released IPCC report, global temperatures have risen on the average by about 0.7 deg C and if emissions continue unchecked temperatures are expected to rise by between 1.8 – 4 deg C by 2100. This will lead to several consequences including water shortages, increasing frequency and severity of storms and sever loss of bio diversity. Increasing storms and flooding in coastal areas can have significant impacts on offshore upstream and coastal midstream and downstream operations.
An expert panel has been assembled to consider environmental management of both mitigation efforts and adaptation actions. The panel can also discuss the impacts our industry is likely to face and through an interactive Q&A session, discuss how we may prepare for such changes.
1400-1530
“Stakeholder Engagement”
Plaza P2
Panelists: David Brereton, Director, Centre of Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The U. of Queensland; Trisha Perkins, Public & Government Affairs Manager, ExxonMobil
Positive stakeholder engagement is fundamental to a successful development in the oil and gas industry. As the industry moves forward in both in the development of unconventional resources and in remote but inhabited areas, the relationship between stakeholders and the oil and gas industry is evolving. Stakeholders may include traditional land owners, farmers, regulators, community and employee groups, environmental groups, and other commercial and industrial parties. The diversity of stakeholders is broader than seen previously, influenced by the scale of the development activities, changing community expectations, increasing environmental concerns, and different cultures in some of the developing areas. While the oil and gas industry activities may ultimately proceed with limited impact to stakeholders, the challenges raised and resulting perception of the industry in the community can have long term consequences and is a challenge that has been a focus area for the industry to reverse.
Stakeholder concerns such as access to wellsites, roads, water disposal, pipeline access and noise, to community welfare and employment, will require an understanding from operators to accept that the various stakeholders will have much more involvement and influence than previously seen. In order to meet both the future demands of the energy consumers and the stakeholders, the oil and gas industry will have to engage all the stakeholders early and appropriately. While the stakeholders and their respective concerns may vary between each different development area, the process for positive engagement with Stakeholders could be commonly applied.
This Panel session will focus on the examining the process for successful engagement with Stakeholders, and consider learnings from Case Studies. Questions facing the industry include; who to engage, what level of engagement is required, and how to engage? Considering these questions, the Panel discussion will examine how best to address the various concerns, the role of industry, and the role of regulators in ensuring the achievement of mutually beneficial outcomes for those involved.
