BP drilling permit sparks outrage
There has been a furious reaction to the Australian Government's decision to grant deep sea drilling permits to BP.
It comes less than a year after the oil company's massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- the worst environmental disaster in US history.
A White House investigation led by William Reilly uncovered a culture of complacency, cost-cutting and systemic failures, and companies unprepared to deal with accidents and consequences.
"BP was irresponsible and I think to a significant degree incompetent with respect to several major decisions that were made in the rigs -- some of which we don't understand," Mr Reilly said.
But the Australian Government is undeterred and it has given BP permission to explore for oil and gas in 24,000 square kilometres of the Great Australian Bight.
Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says the Government has to find another Bass Strait, otherwise the trade situation will worsen.
"It is a tough decision. BP will be held to account by the Australian Government," he said.
"I am in close contact with the US administration about the learnings of the Macondo incident, the same way in which we are paying proper attention to the recommendations with respect to our own oil spill in Western Australia."
However, environment groups are incredulous.
Steve Campbell from Greenpeace Australia Pacific says Australians should be asking themselves whether Mr Ferguson, who presided over Montara which is Australia's worst oil spill, is playing some kind of sick joke on the public.
"It's a fact that BP will be allowed to prospect for oil at depths over three-times greater than the Deepwater Horizon was operating and we know that at the end of the day, oil rigs drilling at these kinds of depths can have major impacts on coastal environments," he said.
But the Minister says strict new rules will apply.
"The first intention of BP would be to do seismic work in the summer of 2011-2012. Even to do that though they'll now have to go through another regulatory process including environmental considerations," Mr Ferguson said.
"If that seismic work then suggests they might like to drill some wells, then at the earliest it will be 2013 or 2014. That also involves further stringent regulatory approvals. In the interim, I'm hoping to have in place a new regulatory frame for Australia."
For its part, BP says it is learning lessons from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to ensure it is not repeated.
But Greenpeace's Steve Campbell says BP cannot be trusted.
"BP tried to change their spots in the 90s by changing their name from British Petroleum to Beyond Petroleum but you know we've seen scant evidence of them becoming a more responsible company or indeed investing more heavily in renewable energy -- they simply haven't done that," he said.
The special conditions imposed on BP's new permits will be publicly available later this week.
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