Exploring the Thai and Malaysian decommissioning landscapes – identifying opportunities and challenges for Australia

Abstract

Due to their various economic, environmental and socio-political impacts, oil and gas decommissioning activities attract a wide array of stakeholders, including joint-venture partners, contractors, governments, environmental non-for-profit organisations, academic institutions, recreational anglers and many others. As the first wave of oil and gas decommissioning activities dawns upon the Asia-Pacific region, stakeholder impacts have begun to take shape in the form of regulatory disputes, scope changes, schedule delays and safety incidents. As part of a wider research to enhance project managers’ understanding of stakeholder impacts on oil and gas decommissioning projects in Australia, the South-East Asian landscape was explored in order to identify and highlight any challenges and opportunities that could be relevant to supporting the development of the Australian oil and gas decommissioning industry. The study finds that while nations in South-East Asia are of close proximity to each other and can easily rely on one another for resource sharing, Australia appears to be geographically isolated 'down under'. In addition, Australia currently has various legislative and regulatory barriers that limit access to readily available oil and gas decommissioning yards, facilities and resources across South-East Asia. This article will review these opportunities and challenges to recommend possible ways forward for the Australian oil and gas decommissioning industry.