Petroleum Industry Surveys

During February–March 2005, a consultant to PIRSA interviewed 43 national and international upstream petroleum industry personnel who represented companies with an interest in South Australia. The aims were to measure the Petroleum Group’s performance in promoting and regulating the petroleum exploration and production industry in the state, as well as customer service. Information gathered will be used to improve performance. These aims are consistent with those of previous surveys in 1996, 1999 and 2001, and the survey format was designed to ensure that key performance trends over time can be followed. PIRSA remains the only upstream petroleum agency to conduct regular industry surveys and publish results.

PIRSA’s performance was rated against comparable Commonwealth and state petroleum agencies. New Zealand Crown Minerals was included for the first time. In general, the group rated very well, again being perceived as the best overall in Australia. Petroleum Group staff are also perceived as the best in all aspects of interaction with the industry (regulation, promotion, data and service quality). A common theme from the ad hoc comments was that PIRSA is appreciated mostly for the attitude of staff, and for its supportive, flexible, practical industry focus, compared to similar organisations within Australia. PIRSA’s overall performance was generally well regarded.

This survey is the first since the Petroleum Act and Petroleum Regulations were proclaimed on 25 September 2000, and is therefore the first ‘test’ of industry’s experience of this new cutting edge legislative regime since the 2001 survey. Key tenets of the new legislative framework are practicality, transparency and flexibility, and the industry response to questions on the regulatory regime would appear to indicate that these aims have generally been achieved. Negative views were expressed by a minority relating to the increased costs of compliance — the transfer of compliance costs to the licensee from the agency was implicit in the legislation.

The survey is also the first to test South Australia’s approach to native title land access issues since 2001, as evidenced by the right to negotiate (RTN) agreements successfully concluded for 29 petroleum exploration licence areas in the Cooper and Officer Basins. Positive feedback was received about the timeframe and content of agreements in the South Australian sector of the Cooper Basin, compared to other states.

The survey also gathered feedback on PIRSA products, services and the website, the results of which will be used internally to make improvements where necessary. Industry perceptions of basin prospectivity and critical uncertainties will be incorporated into plans for future PIRSA basin study projects.

The Petroleum and Geothermal Group management team and staff will review all survey results and formulate appropriate responses through the Petroleum and Geothermal Group Strategic Plan and branch work plans. The next petroleum industry survey is due in 2007, and the survey document will be refined in the interim to improve usability for the consultant and industry representatives, and enhance the clarity of results.

Petroleum Industry Surveys have been conducted by independent consultants in 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2005. The aims of the surveys have been consistent with other years, with the survey format designed to ensure that key performance trends over time can be followed.

2005 Petroleum Industry Survey (.PDF) 1.39MB
1999 Petroleum Industry Survey (.PDF) 258KB
1996 Petroleum Industry Survey (.PDF) 128KB
1994 Petroleum Industry Survey (.PDF) 6.38MB

The Independent Survey of Industry Views on Regulatory Performance (.DOC) 120KB produced for the ANZMED Upstream Petroleum Committee in 1999 is also available to download.