"The new alliance will provide additional premium quality research and development and services, aimed at developing technology-based solutions for the global energy sector," said Greg Thill, CSIRO's acting chief of petroleum resources.

The agreement signed between The University of Western Australia, CSIRO's Division of Petroleum Resources and Curtin University will enable the research organisations to share knowledge, skills and facilities for the more efficient delivery of solutions to industry in areas such as sub-surface technology, drilling and wells, energy facilities and energy science.

The alliance is an initiative of the $37 million Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC), at Bentley Technology Park, and will enhance the premium research and development expertise already offered there.

The ARRC - housing more than 200 researchers - is jointly funded by the CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology and the Western Australian Government, and was developed in conjunction with the petroleum and mining industries.

Mr Thill said the alliance was a significant move towards further consolidating the ARRC's international oil and gas research and development capability. Such an alliance and the resulting concentration of expertise through the ARRC, would create a world class centre that would be the first of its kind in South East Asia, and one of only a few in the world - similar to facilities in Houston, Texas and the Netherlands.

He said the vision was to help address, and even reverse, the current trend for most research and development funding to go offshore, by keeping world-class skills, research and funding in Australia.

"A key to this vision is that Curtin, CSIRO and UWA collaborate to deliver a seamless, high quality, internationally competitive research and development product to our industry clients and partners," said Mr Thill.

"The signing of this new alliance agreement is a landmark step towards achieving this, and is in line with ARRC's fundamental purpose, to create an international world leading centre for research and development in support of the global petroleum and minerals resources sector."

Dr Barney Glover, from Curtin University of Technology's Office of Research and Development, said there were major advantages for the Australian resources sector in an energy technology alliance involving three key research bodies in Western Australia.

Such advantages included the development of critical mass of experts, enhanced research infrastructure, and greater collaboration - between institutions and across disciplines - to solve significant problems. There would also be enhanced accountability and quality control of the research and development process, plus a significant increase in the Australia's energy research reputation.

"The major oil and gas companies have strongly supported such an alliance as this, because they are keen to back Australia's world-class research and development capabilities," Dr Glover said.

"We believe that Australian companies will quickly appreciate the benefits of accessing such a combined depth of premium expertise, through one united body."

Tim McGrath, the commercial projects manager with UWA's School of Oil and Gas Engineering, said that he was confident the research alliance would quickly gain international recognition due to the synergies of combining each partners expert staff and the sharing of major infrastructure such as laboratory equipment and software.

This could not have happened if the critical mass had not been achieved by the relocation of CSIRO Petroleum to Western Australia.

"The real benefits for the international oil and gas industry will be that they can access world leading research and development services at significantly lower cost due to the favourable exchange rates compared to Europe and the United States," said Mr McGrath.

"The benefits for Western Australia are the support of the Australian energy industry, the export of intellectual property to the international industry and increased local opportunities for oil and gas undergraduate and postgraduate students," he said.