Victoria's Bass Strait opened up Australia's offshore oil industry to the world in the 1960s and the Cooper Basin kicked off the country's oil and gas sector onshore, but it was the North West Shelf that not only built the country's biggest oiler, Woodside Petroleum, but set up a unique opportunity close to the refining and trading hub of Singapore and with the start of LNG exports put Australia on the map.
Aside from the recent discoveries and Phoenix South-1 and Roc-1 in the Carnarvon Basin, which has generated some interest, the next major frontier for the Australian offshore oil industry looks like being the Great Australian Bight, and the national regulator is in the processes of considering BP's re-jigged environmental plan to start drilling its Stromlo-1 well, having rejectedthe first attempt.
BP is also under the intense scrutiny as the subject of a Senate inquiry into the wisdom of Bight exploration activity, with hearings starting in Adelaide last week.
Yet the local supply chain is feverishly excited over BP's plans, judging by the more than 1000 companies that have registered interest on the Industry Capability Network.
This is where Dampier-based (and raised) AMSNOR managing director Graham Evans has seen substantial interest in the oil spill response technology that is part of Norway's offshore requirements, but hasn't found such favour yet in the local market.
"We've had a significant interest in our systems in particular for the Great Australian Bight," Graham said.
Evans started Australian Marine Services in 1988 primarily focused on marine engineering and commercial vessel supply including work on all the North West Shelf's major installations before diversifying into a fleet of service vessels.
Then five years ago he formed an Australian-registered joint venture company, AMSNOR, with Norwegian firm NorLense International which developed its oil boom spill recovery technology in question four decades ago, and has been improving it ever since.
The JV with NorLense - which was awarded a contract last September with the world's largest oil spill response group, Oil Spill Response Ltd - has adapted the Norwegian model for Australian conditions and operations including environmental protection, oil spill preparedness, quick response and recovery.
This includes NorLense's range and the skimmers developed by another Norwegian firm, Framo.
The JV's big-ticket item, which is mandatory for Norwegian offshore operations, is NorLense's single-point inflated oil boom with automatic inflation that is deployed directly from the winder by one person, ensuring maximum safety for the operating personnel.
Automatic inflation and self-filling gives the oil boom maximum speed during deployment, making it possible to roll out 300m in five minutes.
This makes it suitable for all installations where rapid deployment is essential, such as tank terminals, oil rigs, refineries, ships and harbours.
Two years ago AMSNOR scored a huge coup when Chevron Corporation purchased two offshore oil boom systems and mobilised its own dedicated oil spill response vessel, during which time AMSNOR provided servicing, training and backup for the US supermajor across the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG mega-projects.
Chevron undertook about 50 deployments in 18 months, which demonstrated the practicality of the vessel - and as Evans described it, "the more deployments they did the better everything got".
"We found that the crews became more competent and happier, and it no longer became a chore to do the deployment but something that they appreciated and looked forward to doing," he told Energy News.
"We have warehousing vessels and personnel in Dampier port. Our ability to respond within five minutes and our localised facilities put us in a prime location for that capacity, including warehousing."
Yet other than that the JV has struggled to gain traction in the Australian market which Graham said was natural as industry often takes a while to adapt to new technologies.
"Entering a new market takes time," NorLense international sales manager Aril Jorgensen told Energy News.
"It's not something that can be introduced overnight."
