He said the enormous economic opportunity afforded by the development of the CSG and CSG to LNG industry would stagnate if the industry did not do more to reassure landholders and legislators that CSG drilling was safe.
“We have an opportunity to not only create an industry which will give us strong economic growth for decades to come but also help solve global energy demands,” he said.
“Our ability to work together and bring society with us is a key to unlocking this opportunity and it won’t happen automatically.
“As an industry, our licence to operate is being critically challenged.
“The burning question is, what can we do as an industry and society to grab this opportunity with both hands?”
He pointed to initiatives being undertaken by Origin, such as the recently announced Working Together program, as an example of how CSG companies could gain the trust of landholders.
The Working Together program, launched last month, is being designed and developed in partnership with the Queensland Farmers Federation, AgForce and individual farmers to give farmers the opportunity to gain formal recognition of their knowledge and skills in environment and land management.
APLNG and Skills Queensland are contributing up to $A250,000 to develop a pilot training and assessment program which, if successful, could be rolled out across the APLNG project and be adopted by other companies.
“Shared value projects like this can help re-shape the debate around coal seam gas and agriculture,” Zealand said.
He said more initiatives such as this would be crucial if the CSG industry were to grow.
“We’ve got to work much harder to makes sure we don’t let this opportunity pass us by,” he said.
Zealand outlined the enormous opportunities, not only to the broader Australia economy but also to the communities in Queensland.
“I remember Queensland seven years ago, when we were coming out of drought. I saw scorched earth, stressed communities and people leaving rural Queensland because they couldn’t get jobs,” he said.
“Today, there’s quite a different feel in the towns from Dalby to Roma … they’re really buzzing.”
He said the oil and gas industry had to get social licence right as the shale scene started to warm up.
“As an industry, we’re now in the foothills of shale, deep coals and tight gas exploration,” he said.
“We see larger international players partnering smaller local players in these basins.
“As an industry, we will learn from our experience from coal seam gas to better manage the social and technical issues to unlock the evolution … what may be the next wave of energy supply for Australia and our region.”
Zealand told EnergyNewsPremium that despite the buzz about shale, Origin had no specific plans to expand its operations into the nascent industry.
“We’re always looking at the opportunities in both our own licences and elsewhere but I have nothing to add on that front … we’re really focused in on our core business right now,” he said.
Zealand said while he was closely watching the outcome of the Queensland state election, Origin was prepared to work with whichever party might triumph.
“We will work hard with whichever party is in place and importantly the regulators who support the parties to regulate the industry,” he said.
“As part of our development we are always talking to the government and opposition.
“We seek to inform all parties so they can make sensible policy decisions.”
In summing up, he reiterated the enormous opportunity available to Australia and the enormous risks posed by political and social pressure.
“It won’t happen if we don’t maintain our licence to operate,” he said.
“Our industry is under intense scrutiny and as we go forward there are some key things we have to respect.
“We have to respect the landholders where we operate and we have to respect the regulators.
“The technical issues associated with drilling are greatly exaggerated and we must adequately address these concerns because we have a good story to tell.”
This story first appeared on ILN's sister publication EnergyNewsBulletin.net.
