Release of Regulatory Impact Statement for the replacement Minerals Programme for Petroleum 2005

The statement reviews the potential direct and “red-tape” impacts on the oil and gas industry and other affected parties that will arise from the introduction of the replacement programme.

The review was carried out by an independent consultant and is now publicly available. As part of the study, a range of petroleum industry representatives were provided with the opportunity to provide further comment, outside of the statutory submission process, on the compliance costs for industry, and the likely impact on exploration activity, through a written questionnaire or via the telephone.

There was a divergence of views amongst industry on a small number of topics. The report concludes, however, that while there will be some initial one-off compliance costs for the industry to become familiar with the new requirements of the replacement Minerals Programme for Petroleum and implementing the changes to the royalty regime, most petroleum companies consulted indicated that incremental compliance costs will be small compared to the overall costs of exploration.