APPEA Focus
NOPSEMA was pleased to be able to host a booth at this year’s very successful APPEA conference in Perth. The largest in-person conference in Australia since COVID appeared in early 2019 ran smoothly, and it was great to see a diverse range of participants in the plenary sessions. Plenty of delegates took the opportunity to come and ask questions or chat to the NOPSEMA team. Our new decommissioning brochure was
especially popular.
The focus of the conference was squarely on the role of oil and gas in a net zero future. There were some excellent presentations that demonstrated a willingness to embrace the shift in thinking required to position the oil and gas industry as a key player in global emissions reductions.
In the opening plenary, Prime Minister Scott Morrison reaffirmed the importance of gas as a driver of Australia’s post-COVID economic recovery, and former Chief Scientist Alan Finkel confirmed the critical role for gas, not only as a transition fuel, but as one of the many ingredients required to produce high volume and reliable renewable energy supply. With blue hydrogen and carbon capture and storage both prominent on the agenda it seems the oil and gas industry is well positioned to support Australia’s energy supply and contribute to global targets to meet net zero by 2050.
Our Head of Safety and Integrity, Derrick O’Keeffe, presented on industry’s response to COVID-19 and what comes next, as well as deferred maintenance and the impact it has on safety. Both presentations can be viewed on our website.
Our CEO, Stuart Smith, spoke at the CEO’s safety forum about mental health and the importance of duty holders working with the offshore workforce to address this increasingly challenging issue, particularly in the context of the pandemic and its ongoing impacts.
Decommissioning was the theme of several sessions with industry showing good signs of preparedness for the significant volume of decommissioning work that will be required in Australia over the next 10 years. It was great to see industry showing a desire to take a collaborative approach to tackling the decommissioning liability.