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...has both the intended and the unintended result.
Front and center in Rudd's election campaign was climate change, signing Kyoto, and a desire for Australia to be seen as a "green" leader among the nations of SE Asia.
So the proposal to develop more of Australia's prolific NorthWest Shelf gas resources [the best wells rival some of the biggest gas wells in the Middle East] in the form of LNG includes carbon sequestration by re-injection.
But apparently the taxpayers take the long term risk. Hey what's good for the banks must be good for Big Oil too, eh...
Front and center in Rudd's election campaign was climate change, signing Kyoto, and a desire for Australia to be seen as a "green" leader among the nations of SE Asia.
So the proposal to develop more of Australia's prolific NorthWest Shelf gas resources [the best wells rival some of the biggest gas wells in the Middle East] in the form of LNG includes carbon sequestration by re-injection.
But apparently the taxpayers take the long term risk. Hey what's good for the banks must be good for Big Oil too, eh...
Chevron Australia CO2 Liability Deal May Be Precedent
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc agreed to invest in the $37 billion Gorgon natural gas venture only after Australia’s government assumed liability for potential damages hundreds of years from now. That may set a precedent in this resource-rich nation.
The three oil companies said Sept. 14 they will proceed with the liquefied natural gas development, the continent’s biggest single investment, at Barrow Island off the northwest coast. The national and Western Australia state governments removed a key obstacle last month when they accepted “any long term liability” should carbon dioxide captured from the project escape sequestration, or storage, two kilometers underground.
“Letting taxpayers ultimately take responsibility for any problems with the CO2 sequestration is a calculated risk by the government,” said Craig Wallace, a senior associate of Lavan Legal in Perth who has advised companies on Australia’s draft climate-change legislation.
“It sets a precedent. It’s probably very likely other operations would get on the bandwagon.”
Gorgon is the largest of 10 proposed LNG projects that Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson says will make Australia “an energy superpower.”
The project’s importance in creating wealth, jobs and investment justified government acceptance of liability...
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc agreed to invest in the $37 billion Gorgon natural gas venture only after Australia’s government assumed liability for potential damages hundreds of years from now. That may set a precedent in this resource-rich nation.
The three oil companies said Sept. 14 they will proceed with the liquefied natural gas development, the continent’s biggest single investment, at Barrow Island off the northwest coast. The national and Western Australia state governments removed a key obstacle last month when they accepted “any long term liability” should carbon dioxide captured from the project escape sequestration, or storage, two kilometers underground.
“Letting taxpayers ultimately take responsibility for any problems with the CO2 sequestration is a calculated risk by the government,” said Craig Wallace, a senior associate of Lavan Legal in Perth who has advised companies on Australia’s draft climate-change legislation.
“It sets a precedent. It’s probably very likely other operations would get on the bandwagon.”
Gorgon is the largest of 10 proposed LNG projects that Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson says will make Australia “an energy superpower.”
The project’s importance in creating wealth, jobs and investment justified government acceptance of liability...