Media release – Australian Marine Conservation Society, 17 November 2023
Otway basin test drilling spill could impact as far north as NSW
American fossil fuel giant ConocoPhillips has today lodged its draft Environment Plan for its proposed test drilling project in the western Bass Strait between the west coast of Victoria and the north-west coast of Tasmania.
Modelling from ConocoPhillips’ Environment Plan shows hydrocarbon spill scenarios from an uncontained wellhead blowout in its proposed test drilling areas could have major impacts on the coastlines of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and as far north as Jervis Bay in New South Wales. A spill could have impacts further afield as the map does not show oil spill concentrations that would result in the closure of fisheries.
The proposed test drilling operational areas extend to within 19 kilometres of Victoria’s south-west coast and within 28km of Tasmania’s King Island.
AMCS Oil and Gas Campaign Manager Louise Morris said: “A spill from ConocoPhillips’ test drilling program could be devastating for Australia’s most populated coast, from South Australia across Victoria to NSW, as well as Tasmania and King Island. What are referred to as ‘low’ impacts would need active beach clean-up operations. What are described as ‘moderate’ impacts would be lethal for marine life in the oceans and shorelines of the Bass Strait and along the coasts of Victoria and Tasmania.
“The modelling shows spills could also carry toxic hydrocarbons like oil into Macquarie Harbour, the last refuge of the endangered Maugean skate.
“ConocoPhillips’ draft plan details large footprints for six proposed drill sites. The six sites directly overlap the Zeehan Commonwealth Marine Park, critical calving grounds for endangered southern right whales and feeding grounds for the endangered blue whale. That’s not to mention the 30 other species of whales and dolphins we know come through these waters.
“Australia’s south-eastern seas contain some of the richest, most diverse life on the planet, from the warm temperate waters around South Australia, Victoria and NSW to the cool temperate waters around Tasmania. They are full of marine treasures, from seals, southern right whales, blue whales and bluefin tuna to threatened kelp forests and unique deep-sea corals which are part of the Great Southern Reef. The vast majority of the marine life in these waters are found nowhere else on Earth.
“Test drilling operations are a high-risk part of oil and gas exploration, as tragically demonstrated by the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, when 800 million litres of oil spewed into the gulf for 87 days, killing or harming hundreds of thousands of fish, birds, turtles, whales and dolphins, and destroying the Gulf’s economy.
“Australia’s offshore oil and gas industry is not immune to such accidents. Just a year before the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, a blowout in a wellhead in the Montara oil field 200km off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast led to more than 34 million litres of oil spewing into the Timor Sea for 74 days, destroying fisheries, seaweed farms and people’s health in West Timor.
“Just last year, Australian gas giant Santos was ordered to stop drilling in north-west Australia because of failure in a blowout preventer, whose failure led to the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Do we really need that risk off Australia’s highly populated south-east coast?
“Australians don’t want oil and gas exploration and drilling in our southern seas. In the past decade, communities have stopped BP, Chevron and Equinor from drilling in the Great Australian Bight, they have opposed proposed gas exploration off the coast of Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast, and there is a growing campaign against ConocoPhillips’ plans with fishers, surfers and residents joining together in protests across Victoria, Tasmania and King Island. In August 2023, more than 30,000 people had made submissions to offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA over a proposal by TGS and SLB-Schlumberger to conduct seismic blasting in the same region looking for gas.
“We cannot allow more oil and gas industrialisation in Australia’s south-east seas, where marine life is already experiencing multiple threats, including climate change, with the waters there warming 3-4 times the global average.”
“The Environment Plan presented for public comment does not give enough detail on the areas that would be impacted by a wellhead blowout and spill, although what it does show is that the environment that may be affected is massive. This threat cannot be underplayed.”
Public submissions can be made about the ConocoPhillips gas test drilling proposal at:
https://consultation.nopsema.