Areas for exploration in the Canning Basin and Officer Basin would be released at the Open Day, according to the DoIR.

The Open Day would also focus on significant changes to regulations affecting the state’s petroleum industry. In addtion it would provide opportunities to gather information on major developments and discuss future trends with industry peers, according to DoIR director of petroleum and royalties Bill Tinapple.

“There have been major changes affecting the petroleum industry in the past year, including the transition of the safety regulation function to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) and the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection (DOCEP),” Tinapple said.

The NOPSA transition required amendments to the Petroleum Submerged Lands Act 1982, the Petroleum Act 1967 and the Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969, he said.

In addition, since July 1 DoIR has been responsible for assessing Native Vegetation Clearing Permit applications for the resources sector. This covers onshore and aqautic vegetation.

Other presentations will include updates in areas such as directions in petroleum legislation, project approvals and related developments, petroleum systems in frontier basins, native vegetation clearing for petroleum activities, resources management regulations, land access, Commonwealth/State royalty issues, Petroleum Data Centre, NOPSA coming of age, and amendments to legislation.

In addition to the program of formal presentations, there will be an extensive exhibit. Breaks are longer than normal to allow attendees to visit the exhibit area and to network with government personnel.

A complete list of speakers and topics is available on the DoIR web site. See www.doir.wa.gov.au

The Petroleum Open Day is scheduled to follow on from The Good Oil Conference, which runs for the two preceding days at the same venue and attracts a large number of industry experts.

The Good Oil Conference provides Australian petroleum explorers and producers with a forum to promote prospects and farm-out opportunities to investors and brokers.

The presenters represent a broad cross-section of Australia’s most active oil and gas explorers, and based on last year’s attendance, the delegates represent some of the biggest Australian and overseas companies.