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The Otway Climate Emergency Action Network (OCEAN) has raised alarm bells after a criminal investigation into American-based oil company Schlumberger (SLB) has seemingly had no effect on its new offshore project within Australia.
OCEAN said according to documents obtained under freedom of information legislation, it could confirm Schlumberger was under criminal investigation.
The group said it strongly suspected the Schlumberger investigation was for breaching an environmental limitation during a 2019–20 2D seismic blasting project in the Otway Basin.
However, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has advised OCEAN that the investigation would not affect the oil company’s current application for a permit to conduct 3D blasting in the same area.
A small delegation of the environmental group travelled to Canberra to speak to members of parliament about what they called a “free for all” for multinational exploration companies like SLB, who obscured government incentives through unknown loopholes.
According to the Director of OCEAN, Lisa Deppeler, 99 per cent of Australians — including politicians — remained unaware of the explorations happening offshore in Australia.
“What we have found out during our enquiries has left our group gobsmacked; If this kind of unrestricted, exploitation was happening on mainland Australia, there would be riots in the streets,” Ms Deppeler said.
“Australians and our government representatives are being hoodwinked.”
Schlumberger is one of the world’s largest offshore drilling companies and the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor by revenue.
Through research, OCEAN has discovered that SLB could bypass the usual community consultation and governmental scrutiny that would typically occur during the Minister for Resources’ annual offshore titles release.
Instead, the company falls under the Special Prospectors Authority (SPA), which allows companies to select areas of Australia’s ocean for seismic blasting without scrutiny from the Australian government.
As part of the SPA, multiple companies can blast the same ocean area repeatedly without taking into consideration the cumulative impact on wildlife from multiple blasts within the same marine habitat.
Scientific research has found that the blasts can severely disrupt, damage, and kill marine species, either by the blasts themselves or by impacting their feeding, breeding, and migrations.
A 2021 Senate Enquiry into seismic blasting expressed 19 recommendations to increase research and improve government policy around offshore gas exploration. However, none of the recommendations was ever enacted.
While the Australian fishing industry is highly regulated and known for being the most sustainable in the world, OCEAN condemns companies that blast Australian fishing grounds and do “untold damage” to fisheries and the surrounding machine environment.
