When the regulators met the operators at the Society of Petroleum Engineers' Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference in Perth this week, competitiveness, transparency, community engagement, green extremists and the wisdom of the ancient Greeks were all on the agenda.

Operators and regulators discussed the importance of an efficient, consistent and stable regulatory environment yesterday in light of a report NERA released in conjunction with Accenture in July on the competitiveness of Australia's oil and gas industry.

The report, which ranked Australia seventh among the 10 countries studied, identified as a priority: "Increasing engagement between industry and government to reduce the ‘red tape' that adds costs and extends timelines within the industry."

In defence of both state and federal regulators Fitzpatrick, former CEO of PTTEP Australasia, noted the enormous pressure they experienced during the recent boom.

Senex Energy chief operating officer Darren Greer said it was important for both regulators and producers to develop an institutional memory of regulatory issues.

Senex has a competitive advantage from their understanding of the regulatory environment, he said.

However, the efficiency of regulatory regimes was not the primary concern of the panel.

Greer summed up the mood in a classical fashion and quoted Pericles, a statesman from ancient Greece: "Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you."

Santos manager public affairs offshore and NT Tom Baddeley was more forthright than Greer.

He said in areas where producers were active and engaged the community there was support, however elsewhere "green extremists get in to peddle rumours and mistruths".

Baddeley said that if the offshore industry thought they were immune from these issues they were kidding themselves.

"You can't rely on good science, good policy, to deliver good regulation. It is about who wins the public contest," he said.

South Australia Department of State Development executive director, energy resources division Barry Goldstein said the community at large doesn't understand risk, and industry needs to engage them.

Goldstein said he once asked APPEA and some producers for charts showing the tax contribution the industry would make, but got nothing to support his community engagement.

He advised the industry to "put your head above the parapet" and communicate its message.

Industry and government do not know how to tug at heart strings and need professional help to emulate the non-government organisations, Goldstein said.

Great story

Woodside Petroleum vice president, health, safety, environment and quality Fiona Hick said the industry has a great story to tell, but there is no concerted effort to do so.

She cited as an example of the benefits flowing from the industry the Wheatstone LNG Project she visited this week where there are currently 7000 workers on site.

Hick said there was room for improvement in how stakeholders are engaged.

Hick said that only yesterday the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science released to industry a recommendation that environmental plans submitted to NOPSEMA be released in full upon application. The recommendation is yet to go to the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan.

Energy News asked Hick whether similar transparency should apply to health and safety, such as placing safety cases for LNG plants in the public domain.

Hicks said she was not against such disclosure but did not see the same level of community discussion about safety as there was with environmental protection.

Fitzpatrick said the community must trust the regulator as the social license to regulate was important.

Then there was the question whether, if a regulatory body also had an advocacy role, was this an example of regulatory capture, where the regulator acted in the interests of the regulated, rather than the overall community.

Goldstein said that transparency kills the idea of regulatory capture. He believes dividing duties into separate organisations reduced institutional memory and promoted silo thinking.