THE ENVIRONMENT FOR RAISING FUNDS FOR PETROLEUM EXPLORATION IN THE 1990s

1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
Mark Epper ◽  
John Charters

Private shareholders' equity has traditionally funded greenfield exploration programs in Australia in the 1980s. In the next decade junior exploration companies will again need to rely on funding from both current and potential shareholders. However, the major difference between the 1980s and the 1990s will be the level of difficulty for companies seeking to raise funds. Recent events have sapped potential investor confidence, particularly private investors, and notably, in oil and gas exploration companies.The recent events in the Middle East and the need for some degree of energy self-sufficiency make investment in oil exploration essential for Australia right now. Exploration requires substantial amounts of risk capital which, at this time, is not flowing from traditional sources. Rather, we are seeing a concentration of ownership in the hands of financial institutions and a handful of producing companies and foreign multinationals. It is essential for the Federal Government to recognise the need to offer further incentives to encourage the private sector to invest in exploration companies. In this paper we suggest that the most effective mechanism for such incentives is through some minor modifications to the Australian taxation system.The oil exploration industry must pursue Government in a co-ordinated manner for assistance in raising funds particularly as the requirement for action is urgent. Industry bodies, such as the Australian Petroleum Exploration Association Ltd (APEA) have recently petitioned the Federal Government with recommendations but the Government has failed to accept these proposals on the grounds that they are inconsistent with present tax policy. If this is the case it is time present policy was changed.Clearly, all exploration companies will take whatever action is possible to raise funds for exploration and not simply look in vain for government salvation by handout. However, in the interests of Australian national security, the government has a responsibility to encourage and foster oil and gas exploration.Since planning for this paper commenced in July 1990, oil prices have leapt from US$18 to approximately US$40 per barrel. Should prices such as these (not experienced since the early 1980s) continue, it will make investment in exploration companies more attractive to all investors while at the same time it will test severely the endurance of the equity market generally.

2001 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
M.W. Hunt

This paper is principally concerned with native title issues as they affect oil and gas exploration and production. However, it also reviews Aboriginal heritage laws and practices because they have the potential to be just as disruptive to an expeditious exploration program or to the construction of a production facility as do native title claims.The paper focusses on onshore petroleum exploration and production because the right to negotiate under the Native Title Act (NTA) does not apply offshore. However, the paper does consider offshore because the NTA can still affect offshore petroleum explorers and producers; either because their area of interest could include an island within a State or Territory jurisdiction or because the facilities to treat the offshore oil and gas could be located onshore.The paper examines the key provisions of the NTA which are relevant to petroleum explorers and producers, principally the subject of tenure to ground. It considers the validity of already granted titles. It then examines the process of application for new titles.Although the NTA is the common source of problems throughout Australia, it is necessary for the paper to consider the situation in each State and Territory, since the titles are different and the government processes of dealing with native title issues differs in each jurisdiction.Although the focus of the paper is on how to cope with the right to negotiate, the paper considers some of the categories of future acts in respect of which the right to negotiate does not apply (specifically, procedures for infrastructure titles, renewals and extensions of titles, the expedited procedure, indigenous land use agreements, reserve land and approved exploration etc acts).The paper mentions the Federal Court decisions in the Miriuwung Gajerrong and Croker Island native title claims and ponders the options for the High Court in deciding the recent appeals.The paper’s conclusion is that a negotiated agreement is the only way to cope with native title issues. The contents of such an agreement are considered.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hidayaturrahman

Government policies in natural resource management, especially in the oil and gas sector face a lot of problems. However, the government also has a responsibility to improve the life of people affected from oil and gas exploration and production activities. This research was aimed at investigating how the implementation of policies run by the central and local government toward the oil and gas management and community empowerment, especially the community located closely  to oil and gas exploration and production activity in Madura, East Java. This research method is phenomenological research using descriptive qualitative approach. Therefore, this study is conducted through direct observation on the object during the research time. The data collection is done through observation and interview. The results of this study revealed that it is needed an integrated step done by the government, vertically, whether central, provincial, district, and village to synchronize oil and gas management and community empowerment programs. By doing so, the ideas and desires to improve the welfare and increase the state income will be realized, especially in focusing corporate and government programs improving citizen’ economic and education, whose area becomes the location of oil and gas production.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 372
Author(s):  
John Begg

This paper presents an overview of the past 50 years of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA). PESA is a not-for-profit professional association for individuals involved in the oil and gas exploration industry.


Subject Proposed reforms in the oil and gas sector. Significance In the face of strong resource nationalism, President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's government faces strong pressure to improve the balance between public control and private participation in the oil and gas sector. To that end, the government proposes to amend the 2001 oil and gas law. Its draft amendment proposes, most notably, that state enterprises should control all production operations, while private investors provide technology and capital. The government is also considering revisions to the upstream regime, which is currently based on production-sharing contracts (PSCs). These changes require parliamentary approval. Impacts Private firms, especially foreign ones, are likely to delay fresh investment in energy assets, given the oil and gas market glut. Indonesia's vast natural resource endowment will attract private interest, but regulatory uncertainty will be an abiding problem. Transparency in the extractive sector will continue to rise at the national level, but local level reforms will be slow.


1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 494
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Hayne

Oil and gas exploration and production opportunities in the United States represent possibilities for investment by Australian petroleum companies in the 1990s. This paper focuses on the unique characteristics of the oil and gas industry, and is intended as an entrepreneurial guide to some of the practical business and tax issues which corporate executives will confront when proposing to do business in the United States. It provides a detailed examination of the key issues, but, due to the complexity of United States and Australian laws, this paper should not be used as a substitute for detailed advice.


Polar Record ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 10 (67) ◽  
pp. 359-364
Author(s):  
A. T. Davidson

About 80 million acres on the mainland of the Northwest Territories and Yukon, and over 40 million acres on the Arctic islands, are under oil and gas exploration permit. Exploration permits were issued in the Arctic islands for the first time in June 1960, following promulgation in April of new Canada Oil and Gas Regulations for federal government lands. The issue of these permits extended the northern oil and gas search from the Alberta and British Columbia borders, in lat. 60° N., northward to the Arctic islands; in terms of land area this is one of the most widespread oil and gas searches in the world. The Arctic islands exploration also holds particular interest since it is the farthest north oil and gas exploration ever carried out.


2013 ◽  
Vol 448-453 ◽  
pp. 3723-3727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Pan ◽  
Zong Xiu Wang ◽  
Mao Pan

There are a lot of Permian volcanic rocks which are widely distributed in Tarim Basin. Because of the shielding effect of the volcanic rocks to the underlying structure, the distribution of the volcanic rocks in Tarim Basin is very important to the deep oil and gas exploration. However, with the progress of oil exploration in Tarim oil field in recent years, much more logging and seismic data is available. Based on the model of logging-seismic integrated identification, the distribution of the Permian volcanic rocks is revised by using the drilling, logging and seismic data. It shows that the rhyolite is mainly distributed in the north basin, and the basalt is widely distributed in the basin. Moreover, the basalt has larger area than which delineated by other people.


1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 207-220
Author(s):  
R W Plume

The release of CO2 into the atmosphere - and more specifically its consequential effect on global temperature – is now more-or-less universally acknowledged as a significant international environmental problem. Known colloquially as the Greenhouse Effect, it is the subject of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. That convention commits its signatories to specific actions directed at stabilising emissions of greenhouse gases (including CO2) at 1990 levels. It was signed at the UN Conference on Environment & Development (the “Earth Summit” which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992) by 153 countries including New Zealand. New Zealand has now officially ratified the Convention and has thus effectively committed itself to participate in international programmes of CO2 emission reduction. The Resource Management Act 1991 requires regulatory authorities to consider the environmental effects of activities in their jurisdiction. Carbon dioxide is now considered to be a “contaminant” as defined in the Act and it therefore becomes contingent upon local authorities to determine a suitable response to the problem of CO2 emissions. Regional and district policy statements and plans are required to be consistent with the national policy statement. Although a national policy statement on CO2 emissions does not yet exist it can be expected that eventually the approval of resource consents for oil and gas exploration and production activities typically will require specific actions relating to the release of CO2. The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere is almost entirely the direct result of two fundamental and worldwide activities: the combustion of fossil fuels and the removal of forest cover. When burned, hydrocarbons add large quantities of CO2 to the atmosphere. The removal of forest cover reduces the ability of the ecosystem to extract CO2 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis. The oil and gas industry is, of course, the source of a large proportion of the hydrocarbons used for energy and other purposes. It can therefore be expected that governments (including New Zealand) will focus on various aspects of the industry in their efforts to meet the reduction goal. Until recently the central Government approach to CO2 emission reduction was to implement the so-called no regrets policies which are desirable goals (e.g. increased energy efficiency) which have the positive spin-off effect of reducing CO2 emissions. By themselves such policies are likely to be inadequate to meet the internationally accepted reduction target. The Government must therefore implement more stringent measures. As the matter now stands the Government is investigating a diverse range of methods for reducing CO2 emissions. Because CO2 emissions and energy use are inextricably linked, reducing CO2 emissions can clearly have a detrimental effect on economic development. The 'holy grail' of policy development in this area is to reduce CO2 emissions without producing harmful effects on the economy. Several options (and myriad variations on the theme) have been put forward including, for example, carbon taxes and tradeable quotas. These options and others are now being assessed by Government officials. The industry should be alert to the distinct possibility that policy will focus directly on oil and gas production. From a regulatory point of view such an approach has an enticing simplicity but the effect on the oil and gas industry may prove to be less than desirable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinyi He ◽  
Jingong Cai ◽  
Xiaojun Zhu ◽  
Mingshui Song ◽  
Huimin Liu ◽  
...  

Lithofacies are the fundamental geological units for shale oil and gas exploration and development, and soluble organic matter (SOM) is most similar to crude oil in composition. Both aspects attract our attention in the interpretation of SOM in different lithofacies, which can provide direct evidence to predict shale oil “sweet spots”. Here, twenty-five shale samples were collected from the Eocene Shahejie Formation in the Dongying Sag and were subjected to X-ray diffraction, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, and SOM characterization. Comparison of the SOM contents in shales with different lithofacies revealed remarkable differences: 1) The contents of SOM, saturates and total hydrocarbons (THC) showed the order of detrital massive mudstone < homogenous massive mudstone < wide laminated shale < discontinuous laminated shale < fine laminated shale < gypsum-bearing mudstone, and the SOM content was controlled by lithofacies through differences in both OM and minerals. 2) The SOM in detrital and homogenous massive mudstones was mainly composed of saturates and resins. Saturates were the main component in wide and fine laminated shales. The SOM in discontinuous laminated shale was mainly composed of saturates and aromatics. The SOM in gypsum-bearing mudstone was mainly composed of saturates, and the percentage of asphaltenes was quite high. Based on the evaluation parameters of high-quality lithofacies in terms of abundance (i.e., SOM, THC or saturate contents) and quality (i.e., quality index and asphaltene percentage), the fine, wide and discontinuous laminated shales were regarded as relatively favorable lithofacies. Based on the lithofacies combination, the fine, wide and discontinuous laminated shales in Es3x and Es4ss (upper section of Es4s) in the Dongying Sag were interpreted as “sweet spots” for shale oil exploration and development. Thus, it is of great significance to study the characteristics of SOM in shale with different lithofacies for shale oil exploration and development.


The maritime industry relates to the carriage of cargoes activities such as shipping and port operations, including a wide supporting activity offshore oil and gas exploration and production. In addition, the marine industry provides a pillar of national economic growth and prosperity. Generally, most of the enterprises engaged in the maritime business are related to shipping, designing, constructing, acquiring, manufacturing, repairing and maintaining, operating and supplying. However, from the various shipping activities could lead to marine pollution especially an oil spill. This study focuses to analyze the relationship of the contingency plan of oil preparedness and response by government authorities towards the oil spill. 43 respondents from selected oil port and government authorities have participated in the questionnaire survey. The result from the multiple correlations and regression analysis show the contingency plan activity of the preparedness and response are significantly and positively related to the government authority integration towards the oil spill incidents


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