Exploring the Thai and Malaysian decommissioning landscapes – identifying opportunities and challenges for Australia
Aaron Tung A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Curtin University Oil & Gas Innovation Centre, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia.
* Correspondence to: aaron506193@hotmail.com
The APPEA Journal 62(1) 159-171 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21021
Submitted: 30 December 2021 Accepted: 21 January 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
Due to their various economic, environmental and socio-political impacts, oil and gas decommissioning activities attract a wide array of stakeholders, including joint-venture partners, contractors, governments, environmental non-for-profit organisations, academic institutions, recreational anglers and many others. As the first wave of oil and gas decommissioning activities dawns upon the Asia-Pacific region, stakeholder impacts have begun to take shape in the form of regulatory disputes, scope changes, schedule delays and safety incidents. As part of a wider research to enhance project managers’ understanding of stakeholder impacts on oil and gas decommissioning projects in Australia, the South-East Asian landscape was explored in order to identify and highlight any challenges and opportunities that could be relevant to supporting the development of the Australian oil and gas decommissioning industry. The study finds that while nations in South-East Asia are of close proximity to each other and can easily rely on one another for resource sharing, Australia appears to be geographically isolated 'down under'. In addition, Australia currently has various legislative and regulatory barriers that limit access to readily available oil and gas decommissioning yards, facilities and resources across South-East Asia. This article will review these opportunities and challenges to recommend possible ways forward for the Australian oil and gas decommissioning industry.
Keywords: Asia-Pacific, decommissioning, environmental management, governance, international relations, ocean management, oil & gas, regulatory law.
Aaron Tung is a joint PhD graduate from the University of Aberdeen and Curtin University under the prestigious Aberdeen-Curtin Alliance programme. Aaron’s research lies in the field of oil and gas decommissioning and focuses on the creation of stakeholder-orientated critical paths for offshore decommissioning projects in the United Kingdom and Australia in order to guide the management of future decommissioning projects. Aaron also has a Bachelor degree in Petroleum Engineering from Curtin University. |
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