The Centre of Decommissioning Australia (CODA) has officially launched, heralding a much-needed collaborative effort to address the challenges and maximise the opportunities of decommissioning Australia’s aging oil and gas infrastructure.
CODA brings together many of the world’s major oil and gas companies, including Chevron, Woodside Energy, Santos Limited, Esso Australia Pty Ltd, Vermilion Oil and Gas Australia and BHP, along with many leading service and research organisations such as Baker Hughes, Atteris, Linch-Pin, AGR, Curtin University and Xodus Group.
NERA’s Chief Executive, Miranda Taylor, said the launch of CODA marks an important step in maximising value for the community, the environment and for Australian industry.
“We are looking at $50 billion of work over the next 50 years, so decommissioning represents a multi-generational challenge for Australia. CODA will play a critical role in transforming our approach to late-life planning and decommissioning to maximise the value for Australia,” Ms Taylor commented.
In 2020 NERA commissioned the first assessment of Australia’s offshore decommissioning liability, produced with support and involvement from oil and gas operators.
The report by Advisian, Worley’s global consulting business, concluded that there is more than $50 billion of necessary decommissioning work on Australia’s offshore oil and gas infrastructure, over half of which needs to be started within the next 10 years.
With the study highlighting the urgency of the situation, CODA will now lead the way on supporting industry, government, the community and other stakeholders to ensure that these activities actively seek to maximise opportunities for local service and technology companies in local and regional decommissioning projects.
Chevron Director of Operations, Kory Judd, said: “Industry has a responsibility to manage asset retirement in an environmentally responsible and efficient manner while ensuring opportunities to deliver long-term environmental and socio-economic outcomes for Australia.”
“By providing a focal point for collaboration, technology sharing, and local capability opportunities, CODA will enable a coordinated approach to drive positive asset retirement results for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Woodside Senior Vice President Operations, Fiona Hick, added that decommissioning will become increasingly prominent in the industry in Australia in the coming years.
“The launch of CODA presents industry with a fantastic opportunity through which to share best practice and to further contribute to undertaking decommissioning safely and efficiently, while delivering benefits to the environment and local communities,” she said.
Graham Gillies, VP of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea at Baker Hughes, noted that decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure in a safe and responsible manner is critical for the future of the industry and for the energy transition.
“As an energy technology company, we are excited to join the CODA network and to work closely with the oil and gas operators in Australia to carefully plan and execute decommissioning projects, leveraging our local resources and expertise in onshore and offshore environments,” Mr Gillies said.
To mark the launch CODA has announced a series of foundation projects designed to rapidly accelerate cross-industry understanding of the decommissioning challenge. These are:
- Understanding Opportunities for Local Disposal and Recycling
- A Global Review of Decommissioning Planning and Execution Learnings
- Development of a Decommissioning Innovation and Technology Roadmap
These projects, along with other work being progressed by CODA, represent critical early-stage building blocks in delivering CODA’s objective of maximising value for Australia from decommissioning activities.
CODA’s launch is the second major announcement in as many months for NERA having just weeks ago unveiled a network of hydrogen technology clusters across the country, designed to help establish a global identity and a recognised brand for Australian hydrogen technology and expertise.
The Call for Proposals will be open until 9 April 2021. More details are available on the NERA website.
