You must consider all matters below before submitting your work-bid greenhouse gas assessment permit application.
You also need to read the Australian Government gazette notice inviting applications.
Maps
View the release areas on the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator’s (NOPTA) interactive map.
Geological information
Geoscience Australia partnered with us to provide geological information for this release:
- View geology information of offshore basins
- Read geological storage studies
- Search the interactive National Offshore Petroleum Information Management System (NOPIMS) database for wells and survey information.
Permit guideline
The Guideline: Offshore greenhouse gas assessment permits — work–bid provides general guidance on the requirements of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act) and associated regulations.
Consultation comments
We advise you to review the 2023 offshore greenhouse gas storage acreage release public consultation comments on release areas.
Foreign investors
If you are a foreign investor, you should be familiar with Australia’s foreign investment framework. Failure to comply with the law may result in penalties.
You are responsible for obtaining any relevant Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approvals.
You must submit evidence of your FIRB approval with the application to NOPTA. If FIRB approval is pending, you can provide evidence after the submission.
An assessment permit will not be offered until the applicant receives the required FIRB approvals.
See guidance on foreign investment for mining on the Treasury website.
Email general enquiries to foreigninvestmentenquiries@treasury.gov.au.
Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) administers the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 (the Sea Dumping Act). The Sea Dumping Act regulates dumping of waste at sea.
You will need a permit under the Sea Dumping Act to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Australian sub-seabed.
Read more about offshore carbon capture and sequestration sea dumping on the DCCEEW website.
Email seadumping@dcceew.gov.au early in your project planning to understand your obligations under the Sea Dumping Act.
Marine environment and heritage
Release areas may overlap Australian Marine Parks, Biologically Important Areas and Key Ecological Features. For more information see:
- marine bioregional plans and biologically important areas of regionally significant marine species on the DCCEEW website
- how we manage marine parks on the Parks Australia website.
The Australian Heritage Database provides information on the National Heritage values protected as matters of national environmental significance under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
The Protected Matters Search Tool provides information on what is protected under the EPBC Act.
Underwater cultural heritage (UCH)
DCCEEW administers the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 (UCH Act). The UCH Act requirements are separate to the EPBC Act requirements.
The Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database contains historical and environmental information about shipwrecks, sunken aircraft and other types of underwater heritage sites.
We recommend you consult heritage@dcceew.gov.au if you are planning storage assessment in Australian offshore waters.
Defence
Areas may coincide with offshore Defence Restricted Areas and restricted airspace. See notice to airmen and notice to mariners for current restrictions.
Unexploded ordnance (UXO) may be present on or in the sea floor. The Department of Defence has identified potential UXO areas in the UXO mapping application.
Trailing liability
Under the OPGGS Act, titleholders that held a title on or after 1 January 2021, or related persons, may be called back to undertake remedial works in the former title area should issues arise in future.
Storage formation integrity
Wells drilled within the title area or surrounding area may affect the integrity of a storage formation. This is regardless of whether they intersect a storage formation or not. This includes any:
- pre-title petroleum, greenhouse gas storage or stratigraphic wells
- wells drilled under an active greenhouse gas assessment permit.
You may need to consider the impact of wells on the integrity of the storage formation. Find out how this affects the fundamental suitability determinants of a storage formation under the OPGGS Act.
You may be required to remediate a well to ensure safe injection and permanent storage of CO2 into a storage formation.
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2009
A ‘greenhouse gas activity’ is defined in the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2009 (Environment Regulations).
‘Seismic or exploratory drilling activity’ is also a term defined in the Environment Regulations and includes some greenhouse gas activities.
The National Offshore Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) must accept an environment plan (EP) for a greenhouse gas activity before it can begin. EPs for seismic or exploratory drilling activities need a 30 day public comment period before NOPSEMA can start the assessment. It is an offence to undertake an activity before there is an approved EP in force.
The Minister endorsed NOPSEMA’s environmental management authorisations process as a program that meets the requirements of the EPBC Act in February 2014. Greenhouse gas exploration activities can access NOPSEMA’s endorsed environmental management program.
Titleholders for injection and/or greenhouse gas storage activities cannot access the endorsed program. These activities may require other environmental approvals under the EPBC Act further to a NOPSEMA approved EP.
The NOPSEMA website provides more information on the NOPSEMA EPBC Act program. This includes more details on the activities included and excluded from the endorsed program arrangements.
You may also need additional safety and integrity authorisations from NOPSEMA for greenhouse gas activities and associated facilities.