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WA Govt to boost steel fabrication industry

Mon, 23 April 2012 The Western Australian Government will supply more than $82,000 in funding to the Australian Steel Institute to assist the WA steel fabrication industry.

EPBC evolution: what will the changes mean for your next project?

The environmental regulatory regime that pipelines and other major projects operate under in Australia is complex and can be a frustrating and lengthy process. The Federal Government has commissioned a review of the legislation that governs this area and recently outlined its planned changes to the regime.

Electricity market mechanisms: not for gas

Regardless of the opinions of outside observers and policy makers, gas is fundamentally different to electricity. Members of the pipeline industry need to ensure that this message is received and solutions are provided to halt policy that moves toward converging gas and electricity markets.

APIA welcomes draft Energy White Paper

Wed, 14 December 2011 Australia’s gas transmission industry has welcomed the Federal Government’s draft Energy White Paper and its promise to monitor current policy arrangements for the national gas market.

Climate policy – devil in the detail

July saw the release of the exposure draft of the Clean Energy Bill 2011, providing for the first time the detail on the Federal Government’s carbon price mechanism. As anticipated, many aspects of the mechanism are similar to the first emissions trading scheme produced by the Government, but in the detail there are provisions that have implications for the gas transmission pipeline industry and the broader gas industry.

Directing pipeline governance in South Australia

As Chief Engineer of the Petroleum and Geothermal Group, Minerals and Energy Resources in the Department of Primary Industries and Resources of South Australia, Michael Malavazos holds extensive experience in the history and operations of all things pipelines in the state.

The Australian carbon tax: what will it mean for the pipeline industry?

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s announcement of a carbon pricing mechanism for Australia will, pending legislation, undoubtedly have implications for the future of the Australian manufacturing industry.

Victoria’s fresh vision for pipelines

In November 2010, the Liberal Government was sworn in as Victoria’s new state government. Michael O’Brien, as the new Minister for Energy and Resources, brings with him a fresh and innovative vision for pipeline development in Victoria. Mr O’Brien recently spoke to The Australian Pipeliner about the Government’s plans to incentivise construction of gas infrastructure in Victoria and the challenges the industry faces within the state.

NSW pipelines: stepping up from natural to coal seam gas

Unlike other Australian states, New South Wales has no known commercially viable natural gas fields. However, recent exploration in a number of areas has indicated that the state may contain significant reserves of coal seam gas. Here, The Australian Pipeliner takes a look at the explosion of pipeline activity that has occurred as a result of these coal seam gas discoveries, and reviews the existing transmission pipeline network the new projects will join.

Industry needs a vision to influence policy

The Federal Minister for Resources and Energy has signalled in several speeches that an Energy White Paper team has been reformed and that a policy will be developed by the end of 2012. APIA Policy Adviser Steve Davies calls upon the pipeline industry to start thinking about the energy markets of the future.

Governing gas: one-on-one with Martin Ferguson

Journalists Katherine St Lawrence and Stephanie Clancy recently put their questions to the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, about the Federal Government’s perspective on the issues which are shaping Australia’s gas and oil transmission industry.

Funding available for workforce development

Pipeliners have an opportunity to access government funding for training and skills development. The Critical Skills Investment Fund makes $200 million of Australian Government funding available to partially – between 50 and 90 per cent – fund projects that provide training and employment opportunities in critical industry sectors.

Chief Executive’s report

Discussion about climate change and a carbon tax is not going to quietly go away. Sure, it has diminished in the past as each political party ditched a policy that was too difficult to ‘sell’. This time, there’s no going back and that’s because it has been ditched before and, if the Prime Minister ditches it again, Labor has nowhere to go on the issue. It’s a gamble but it’s so far out from an election campaign that the Prime Minister is likely to get away with it.

State of the gas supply industry workforce

The Federal Government’s National Resource Sector Employment Taskforce released a report, Resourcing the Future, in July this year. The report looks at the skills, employment and training issues in the resource sector.

Native title claims to be fast-tracked

Wed, 22 September 2010 Companies in the resources sector "risk being caught out" by the Federal Court’s decision to fast-track native title claims, according to Allens Arthur Robinson Partner Marshall McKenna.

Solutions to encroachment issues

The Australian Pipeline Industry Association is developing a campaign to engage with planning authorities and to raise awareness of gas transmission infrastructure and issues. The Association has begun to reach out to state planning departments, and the early responses have been positive.

Australia should look to gas to reduce emissions: APIA

Wed, 1 September 2010 Renewable energy is not the only answer to climate change, with natural gas being critical to meeting emission reduction targets, the Australian Pipeline Industry Association (APIA) has said.

Dr Allen Beasley

The Australian Pipeliner recently took time out to catch up with former APIA Chief Executive Allen Beasley, who has settled in to his new role as the inaugural executive director of the ASCOPE Gas Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Maloney Field Services begins land negotiations in Mildura and Robinvale

Fri, 13 August 2010 As part of the Sunraysia Irrigation Project, new state-of-the-art, high-pressure pipelines have replaced old concrete lined channels and ‘leaky’ low-pressure pipelines. The project aims to improve the effectiveness of existing irrigation systems in the region and deliver water savings of up to 1.5 billion litres each year to the environment.

It’s one thing for Government to ignore gas, another to hinder it

The inclusion of a new $652 million Renewable Energy Future Fund in the Federal Government’s Budget brings the total Federal funding for renewable and clean energy to $10 billion. APIA Policy Adviser Steve Davies outlines the potential impact of this funding on the natural gas industry, urging Government to consider the use of natural gas as a low-cost, efficient alternative.

Coal seam gas: Queensland’s legal landscape

Several legal issues that may affect Queensland’s burgeoning coal seam gas industry have emerged as a result of the introduction of the Petroleum and Gas Act.

Encroachment: providing pipeline security in NZ

Since its initial construction in 1986, the route of the Refinery to Auckland Pipeline has experienced much encroachment. Pipeline owner The New Zealand Refinery Company moved to increase security of the pipeline by acquiring ‘Designation’ status, which puts the pipeline in the public domain for the first time since it was installed, and allows The New Zealand Refinery Company input into any plan changes, developments and subdivisions proposed along the pipeline route.

The complications of CSG: landholder issues and other community concerns

The rapid expansion in the coal seam gas industry over the past 20 years has resulted in growing community concern regarding industrial exploration and drilling on private property, particularly agricultural land. CNC Projects’ Management’s Dave Maloney and Ian Spence discuss some of the concerns that have been expressed, with a focus on the rights of landholders in Queensland, as well as contentious topics associated with the mining and extraction of coal seam gas in Australia.

Boom or bust: establishing how many people are employed in the pipeline industry

The Australian Government’s newly established National Resource Sector Employment Taskforce has asked companies and industry associations to forecast the workforce requirements needed to sustain the upcoming boom. APIA Policy Adviser Steve Davies outlines the difficulty and importance of providing such information with regard to the pipeline industry.

The EPBC Act: toward extinction or evolution?

The first independent review of Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) has labelled the legislation repetitive, unnecessarily complex and overly prescriptive in some areas. CNC Project Management Manager Environment and Regulatory Compliance Ian Spence reports on the recommendations made within the review and the response.