Petroleum Act 1998

Despite anything in Division 1 of Part 11, before carrying out a petroleum operation under a relevant authority on or after 1 July 2021, the holder of the relevant authority must—

give the Minister a new operation plan in accordance with section 161(1) that replaces the accepted operation plan in relation to the petroleum operation; or

apply to vary the accepted operation plan under section 163.

If the holder of the relevant authority applies to vary the accepted operation plan, the proposed variation must include any of the following that were not identified, specified or set out in the accepted operation plan—

risks that the petroleum operation may pose to the environment, to any member of the public, land or property in the vicinity of the operation and to any petroleum, source of petroleum or reservoir that the operation might affect;

measures that the holder of the relevant authority will take to eliminate or minimise those risks;

measures that the holder of the authority will take to rehabilitate the land that will be affected by the operation;

other matters required by the regulations.

The holder of the relevant authority must not carry out the petroleum operation unless—

if the holder gives the Minister a new operation plan, the Minister has accepted the new operation plan in writing; or

if the holder has applied to vary the accepted operation plan, the Minister permits the holder to vary the accepted operation plan.