Energy security – environmental considerations National planning consultation, coordination, cooperation Deliverables: baseline knowledge, effective management; increasing efficiency of industry, pre-competitive data, reducing red/green tape
A ustralia’s marine ecosystems • Australia has a range of significant & biodiverse ecosystems • Many overlap with areas of high O&G prospectivity • These are poorly documented and their system dynamics and responses to impacts are even less well understood
I mportance of Environmental A ssessments & Monitoring • At precompetitive stage – to identify environmental sensitivities that might influence initial interest in leases • During exploration & development – to assess risk of various activities on the environment • Post- incident to detect environmental impacts and monitor recovery • Reliable, comprehensive environmental data is critical to both industry and regulators • Data on toxicity and thresholds essential to risk assessments during permitting
I mportance of Environmental A ssessments & Monitoring • F ailure to compile adequate baselines compromises our ability to detect impacts – a major issue for the Montara and Macondo spills • Lack of definitive data on possible impacts can lead to over-regulation through adoption of a higher precautionary approach • Modelling (hydrodynamic and ecological) is a vital tool but comprehensive validation is critical
K ey Science Needs • A national system of environmental baselines • Ecotoxicity studies • F ate & behaviour of released hydrocarbons • Impacts of noise • Improved prediction of impacts • Data coordination, management & accessibility
National System of Environmental Baselines • biological communities, benthic habitats, high resolution hydrocarbon analysis, metocean data • Inadequate baselines increase regulatory uncertainty and ability to detect impacts • Piecemeal accumulation of data for each lease is inefficient, and less effective • Coordination of data standards & sampling needed 1. A staged Implementation 1. A staged Implementation across government and industry 2. Develop a single Regional Plan 2. Develop a single Regional Plan 3. Easy access to existing data 3. Easy access to existing data • Strategic gap-filling rather than duplicated effort 4. An continuous improvement approach 4. An continuous improvement approach 5. Joint participation with Industry 5. Joint participation with Industry
BP GAB ss2013-RC02 Survey - Southern Surveyor Total Numbers and locations of Benthic Physical/Chemical Samples 130°0'0"E 130°30'0"E 131°0'0"E 131°30'0"E 132°0'0"E 132°30'0"E 133°0'0"E 133°30'0"E 134°0'0"E 134°30'0"E 13 Environmental Monitoring: (5) (5) 19 (4) (5) (4) 11 15 (5) (5) 33°30'0"S 18 33°30'0"S 16 (5) 17 (5) 10 Oil Seeps 34°0'0"S (4) 34°0'0"S (4) (5) Great A ustralian Bight 21 7 (5) 6 34°30'0"S 9 34°30'0"S (2) (4) 22 8 (5) (3) 23 5 (5) 35°0'0"S (4) 35°0'0"S (4) (5) 3 2 (4) (4) 4 (4) 1 35°30'0"S (4) 35°30'0"S Collaborative Research Science Program, 130°0'0"E 130°30'0"E 131°0'0"E 131°30'0"E 132°0'0"E 132°30'0"E 133°0'0"E 133°30'0"E . 134°0'0"E 134°30'0"E with CS I RO, BP and M I S A 0 40 80 160 Kilometers Coordinate System WGS 84 • Oceanography • Open water (pelagic) ecosystem and environmental drivers • Sea floor (benthic) biodiversity • Ecology of apex predators • Petroleum geology and geochemistry • Socio-economic analysis • Integration and modelling
Environmental Monitoring: Northwest A ustralia Collaborative Research: W A MS I Partners, Oil & Gas I ndustry • Shell- I npex OSMP • PTTEP, Woodside, ConocoPhillips, Chevron
Ecotoxicity research Regionally adjusted thresholds Must: • be locally relevant (species, oil & condensate types, discharges) • cover molecular, physiological and whole organism responses in lab & field • include cumulative and multi-factor impacts Response models for multiple stressors Ultratrace metals analysis – achieving part per trillion detection limits
I mpacts of Noise • Ongoing uncertainty on impacts, especially for Marine mammals • Initial research on seismic surveys shows little impact on fish • Need for studies on combined impacts • Need to characterise local sound environments and propagation characteristics
I mproved Prediction of impacts • F ate and behaviour of spilled hydrocarbons • Hydrodynamic and dispersal modelling • Improved metocean data • Ecosystem models incorporating experimental research • Output as formal risk analysis
D ata Management & A ccess AODN AODN IMOS/eMII IMOS/eMII • NPEII NPEII Access to metadata from government & industry IGEM IGEM • Data standards eAtlas eAtlas • Data sharing within government, within industry, between both • Coordination of data management and access system • Develop a national marine environmental decision support system • Develop skills and capacity in HPC, HPD , big data, data storage
Research I nfrastructure: Vessels RV Investigator RV Solander Shelf & Open Ocean, 94m, Coastal & Shelf, 35m, 40 Scientists 10-12 Scientists
Research I nfrastructure: National Sea Simulator • Multifactor, highly controlled experiments SeaSim • Temperature • Light (intensity, spectrum) • Salinity • CO 2 • Diurnal, Seasonal variation SeaSim:
Time Energy Security - Questions Science outputs E Horizon W hat are the linkages between seabed communities and Complete three exemplars of high resolution seabed mapping n 5 years environments and what do they tell us about offshore for environmental and resource assessment. prospectivity? e W hat are the long term effects of offshore exploration and Determine the effects of noise generated by exploration and r production on marine organisms? development of resources on marine life. Establish ecotoxicology affects on marine life of hydrocarbons g from known producing fields, and discoveries y Develop HPC/HPD services to synthesise, analyse, and access regional seabed, subsea, and satellite data to assist Industry How can remote sensing technologies be developed to Complete seabed mapping of un-explored areas of the 10 years S improve our understanding of offshore prospectivity? Australian Marine Jurisdiction Complete wave and wind energy profiles adjacent to existing e and developing energy sinks (ports, cities) c Develop and apply a robust methodology to rank Australia's offshore geologic basins for energy resource assessment. u Establish a program to systematically and routinely assess fluid and gas seepages from the seafloor. r Determine the hydrodynamic history of Australian offshore How does the dynamic geological history of Australia affect sedimentary basins to assess affects on productivity of i the relative prospectivity of offshore sedimentary basins? conventional hydrocarbons and disposal of CO 2 t How resilient is the marine environment to resource Establish a monitoring program to assess exogenous noise in development and unplanned incidents? the marine environment. y Complete environmental modelling for Australia's marine W hat are key indicators required to monitor and ensure 20 years jurisdiction: remote monitoring of CO 2 storage sites and sustainable development of energy resources? performance of wave and wind platforms How can we apply HPC/HPD to better predict energy prospectivity and CO 2 storage capacity to ensure long term energy security?
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