Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006

How Does It Work?

The Act sets up a tiered licensing system. Think of it like a property development process:

• First, you get an exploration permit (to go looking).
• If you find something viable, you get a retention lease (to hold your claim while you plan development).
• Then you get a production licence (to actually extract).
• Supporting licences exist for pipelines and infrastructure (like processing platforms).

For greenhouse gas storage, a similar tiered system applies: assessment permit → holding lease → injection licence.

Who Runs It?

• Joint Authorities (a State/Territory Minister + the Federal Minister acting together) manage most petroleum decisions in each state's offshore zone.
• The Commonwealth Minister alone handles greenhouse gas injection and storage.
• NOPSEMA (National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority) — the safety and environment cop, responsible for worker health and safety, structural soundness of facilities, and environmental management.
• NOPTA (National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator) — the administrative registry, keeping records of who holds what title and managing data.

The Offshore Constitutional Settlement

This Act reflects a longstanding deal between the Commonwealth, States and Territories about who controls what. States control their 'coastal waters' (roughly within 3 nautical miles); the Commonwealth, jointly with States, controls everything further out to the continental shelf edge.

Why Does It Matter?

This is the gateway law for Australia's entire offshore oil, gas, and carbon storage sector — a multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry. If you want to operate in Australian offshore waters for these purposes, this Act determines whether you can, under what conditions, and what happens if you don't comply.