27 June 2007
Key Points:
The continued development of the petroleum and gas industry in Queensland will likely see an expansion in the use of data acquisition authorities and survey licences.
The Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (Qld) ("PAG Act") introduced a range of new petroleum authorities that are intended to facilitate petroleum exploration and production in Queensland. Each new type of petroleum authorities serves a different and highly specialised purpose.
In theory at least, data acquisition authorities, water monitoring authorities and survey licences confer upon the holder of each rights to enter land which is not the subject of an existing petroleum tenure (being an authority to prospect or a petroleum lease) in order to conduct data acquisition activities, water monitoring activities or surveying activities.
While it appears that the rights conferred by the PAG Act will give effect to this intention, based on the numbers of these types of authorities granted, it seems that industry has some reservations about them. The industry seems to have accepted only data acquisition authorities and survey licences as being of any real genuine utility to petroleum activities.
Set out below are details of the rights conferred upon and the obligations imposed upon the holders of data acquisition authorities, water monitoring authorities and survey licences under the PAG Act. Also set out below are details of the numbers of these authorities granted to date as an indicator of the extent to which the industry has responded to and adopted these types of petroleum authorities.
Data acquisition authorities
Data acquisition authorities exist for the purpose of allowing the holder of a petroleum tenure to enter land adjacent to the petroleum tenure to undertake geophysical surveys (eg. seismic surveys) on that land. As a data acquisition authority will not support an application for a petroleum lease (an authority to prospect is the only underlying tenure that can support a petroleum lease application), the data acquired by a geophysical survey on adjacent land will in practice only really allow the petroleum tenure holder to better evaluate the geology below their own petroleum tenure.
Data acquisition authorities cannot exist in isolation. They can only exist if they relate to a petroleum tenure. Data acquisition authorities have a maximum term of one year and automatically expire when the petroleum tenure to which they relate expires. Like petroleum tenures, a data acquisition authority is required to have a relevant environmental authority. The holder of a data acquisition authority must also compensate the owner of the land underlying the data acquisition authority in accordance with the general compensation provisions of the PAG Act.
There are some restrictions in relation to the area to which data acquisition authorities apply. First, they can only apply to land contiguous with the petroleum tenure and not any land at large. Secondly, a data acquisition authority cannot be granted over the area of another petroleum tenure. (If geophysical surveys are desired to be carried out on adjacent petroleum tenures, an arrangement between the holders of the adjacent petroleum tenures is necessary.) Finally, authorised activities can only be carried out on the area of a data acquisition authority that is also subject to a mining lease if the holder of the mining lease has agreed in writing to the carrying out of that activity.
Data acquisition authorities are a limited purpose tool available to petroleum tenure holders in order to evaluate prospective petroleum deposits and gas fields. They can be best summarised as being a temporary extension of the existing petroleum tenement for the sole purpose of conducting geophysical surveys.
To date, only four data acquisition authorities have been granted in Queensland. The limited number of grants of data acquisition authorities probably doesn't reflect their utility, but is more likely because existing tenures (such as authorities to prospect) provide adequate coverage for exploration purposes. If the Government ever uses the tender process for authorities to prospect to reduce the size of such tenures, then data acquisition authorities may become a more useful tool for petroleum and gas explorers.
Water monitoring authorities
Water monitoring authorities exist for the purpose of enabling the holder of a petroleum tenure to enter land that is not the subject of the petroleum tenure in order to comply with, or assess the need to comply with, the make good obligation. The make good obligation is the obligation to restore the supply of water to a landowner from a bore (or compensate the landowner) where that supply of water was unduly affected by the petroleum tenure holder’s activities. The holder of a water monitoring authority may carry out any water monitoring activity in the area of the authority.
Water monitoring authorities must relate to particular petroleum tenures. They have no maximum term and can exist until the expiry of the petroleum tenure to which they relate. A water monitoring authority is also required to have a relevant environmental authority. The holder of a water monitoring authority must compensate the landowner in accordance with the general compensation provisions of the PAG Act.
Unlike data acquisition authorities, water monitoring authorities can be granted over the area of another petroleum tenure. The holder of a water monitoring authority however cannot carry out activities on the area of the other petroleum tenure if those activities would interfere with the carrying out of activities on the other petroleum tenure.
Also unlike data acquisition authorities, the land to which a water monitoring authority relates does not need to be contiguous with the petroleum tenure.
Water monitoring authorities are also a limited purpose tool that enables the petroleum tenure holder to monitor and evaluate the impacts of their activities on water in the vicinity of the petroleum tenure. It seems that the purposes for which water monitoring authorities can be granted could be achieved equally as well by entering into private arrangements with the owner of land that is to be accessed. On this basis, it seems that water monitoring authorities would only be sought if the holder of the petroleum tenure is unable to obtain the consent of the relevant landowner to enter the land.
No water monitoring authorities have been granted in Queensland to date.
Survey licences
Survey licences confer upon the holder limited rights of entry to land for a limited range of purposes. They exist for the purpose of allowing a person to enter land to investigate or survey the potential suitability of land for the construction and operation of pipelines and petroleum facilities and to identify possible pipeline routes and pipeline or petroleum facility access routes.
Although survey licences, by their nature, relate to pipeline licences and pipeline facility licences, there is no need for the applicant for a survey licence to be the holder of a pipeline licence or a petroleum facility licence. A survey licence exists independently of any other type of petroleum tenure or other petroleum authority. They can only, however, be granted in relation to proposed pipelines or petroleum facility licences.
As with the other petroleum authorities discussed above, the holder of a survey licence is required to compensate a landowner in accordance with the general compensation provisions of the PAG Act. However, the impacts caused by survey licences are likely to be minimal as they exist only for survey purposes.
Survey licences have a maximum term of one year and appear to exist to overcome a refusal by relevant landowners to grant access to a pipeline proponent or petroleum facility developer for surveying or assessment purposes.
Survey licences have proven to be popular among pipeline developers with 14 of them having been granted to date. The response of the industry to these authorities is indicative that they are and will continue to be a very useful authority as a means of progressing the development of a pipeline or petroleum facility.
Summary
Data acquisition authorities, water monitoring authorities and survey licences are each intended to assist petroleum explorers, producers and developers to undertake activities that are essential to their project on land that is outside the area of their petroleum tenure. In theory, based on the provisions in the PAG Act, it seems that the powers conferred on the holders of data acquisition authorities, water monitoring authorities and survey licences will enable petroleum project developers to achieve their objectives.
In practice, however, it appears that the purposes for which water monitoring authorities and survey licences are granted can be overcome through suitable arrangements with the relevant landowner. That is, it is not necessary for the holder of a petroleum authority or a petroleum project proponent to seek or obtain these types of authority. Accordingly, these types of petroleum authority may only be useful only where there is a dispute with the landowner in relation to access to land which cannot be easily resolved.
Survey licences have proven to be quite popular in the industry and appear to be a tool that will be of great utility to the industry. Water monitoring authorities have not received such interest and the ongoing utility of these authorities is therefore questionable.
Data acquisition authorities appear to be a much more useful authority enabling access to land for geophysical survey purposes that provide petroleum tenure holders with additional information about their petroleum tenure. They are constrained by the limitations applicable in terms of the area and the impact caused by overlapping tenures. They will only be necessary where the area of the existing petroleum tenure doesn't provide adequate coverage of land and so may not be commonly needed.
The success of these new types of authority is best measured not from an academic perspective, but by their acceptance and use by the industry. So far, the petroleum industry has displayed a measure of confidence in at least some of these new types of authority. The continued development of the petroleum and gas industry in Queensland will likely see an expansion in the use of data acquisition authorities and survey licences. The utility and viability of water monitoring licences remain to be demonstrated.
For further information, please contact James Minchinton.
