New Queensland environment law takes aim at Clive Palmer

The Queensland government has moved to force mine and refinery owners to pay for any environmental clean ups if their business goes bust, in the wake of Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel fiasco, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Environment Minister Steven Miles introduced amendments to the Environmental Protection Act to “better protect the environment, the community, and taxpayers from the decisions and actions of businesses that fail to take the steps to meet their proper responsibilities”

Mitsui to stay outside Bass Strait gas bloc

A small degree of competitive tension will remain in the Bass Strait gas scene, with Japanese conglomerate Mitsui E&P confirming it will not sell its gas as part of a bloc with Exxon Mobil and BHP Billiton, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mitsui took a foothold in Bass Strait earlier this month when it bought Santos' 35% stake in the Kipper field, and its arrival came as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission put the finishing touches on its review of gas markets in Australia's eastern states.

Deutsche Bank runs ruler on BHP Billiton's potential M&A targets

BHP Billiton has $US3 billion to $US5 billion for an acquisition and Deutsche Bank analysts reckon the miner would most likely be looking for a late exploration stage conventional oil asset, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Deutsche's analysts ran the ruler on BHP's potential M&A targets in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil and found that there were two potential targets in Brazil; BM-C-33 and Tartaruga.