Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chief executive Belinda Robinson said 1400 delegates would come together at a time when the industry was at “a crossroads”.
“This is the largest gathering of the upstream petroleum industry in the southern hemisphere,” she said.
“This is the one time in the annual calendar when the entire industry gets together to chew over the critical issues, hear from Australia’s and the world’s best thinkers, catch up on old friends, make some new ones and do a bit of business.”
Robinson said the need for such a conference had never been greater.
“In terms of energy supply, the stakes have never been higher,” she said. “This is, in effect, a conference about Australia’s future, because – as the second-largest export earner – Australia’s oil and gas sector is such a critical part of it.”
The Australian petroleum industry faced the greatest challenges since Australia’s first oil exploration well was sunk in 1866, she said.
Rapidly declining Australian oil production, unprecedented growth in global energy demand, global skills shortages, rapidly increasing project costs, and the increasing preoccupation with robust climate change policy have created challenges – and opportunities – for the sector.
“If we don’t tackle these issues in a deliberate, considered and rational way, Australia’s petroleum industry – so vital to Australia’s economic wellbeing – will not realise its full and substantial potential,” she said.
At APPEA 2007, Australian Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane will release an 18-month analysis of the Australian petroleum sector, Platform for Prosperity, aimed at establishing what needs to be done in order for the industry to quadruple its LNG capacity, increase the penetration of gas into Australian electricity generation and halt the decline in Australian oil production.
“This is a watershed for the upstream petroleum industry,” Robinson said.
“Never before has the industry worked so closely with policymakers and the scientific community in determining the future of our industry and what we need to do, collectively, to get us there.”
APPEA 2007 delegates include representatives of APPEA’s 63 full-member companies – which together make up 98% of Australia’s oil and gas exploration and production.
“The entire industry, as well as business leaders, politicians, academics, community leaders and environmentalists, will be together at the same place, at the same time, to discuss the future of Australian energy,” Robinson said.
“They range from the big players, such as BHP, Woodside, Chevron, Shell, Santos, Origin and BP, to the many mid-size and smaller companies that play such a huge role in Australia’s economy.”
