Australian Marine Conservation Society

The Australian Marine Conservation Society is deeply concerned that poor funding for State and Territory agencies responsible for monitoring oil wells could have contributed to the recent oil spill in northern Australia.

Better funding may have prevented the blowout of the Montara (West Altas) oil well which ultimately resulted in hundreds of barrels of oil a day spewing into the Timor Sea over a ten week period last year.

In their submission to the Commission of Inquiry into the Montara oil spill, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority indicated that better resourcing for the State/Territory agencies responsible for monitoring the integrity of oil wells is needed and, in relation to this incident, may have prevented it from happening in the first place.

"During the spill Australia's oil industry body admitted this shouldn't have happened and now a Government agency has suggested this could have been prevented. The Inquiry into this disaster clearly has its work cut out to make sure this never happens again," said Darren Kindleysides, Director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS).

AMCS welcomes the news that yesterday the leaking oil well was finally fully secured by the company responsible for the Montara platform, PTTEP.

"While the oil well at the centre of this environmental disaster has finally been secured, the same can't be said for the future of our oceans hammered by this major oil spill. Thousands of tonnes of oil polluted the Timor Sea leaving a toxic legacy that will continue to harm the region's wildlife for years to come," said Kindleysides.

 The Commission of Inquiry into this incident is still gathering evidence, yet incredibly, PTTEP has now also indicated work will resume in 2010 to bring the Montara field into production.

"Further development of the Montara field must be put on hold until after the Inquiry into Australia's worst oil well spill. Opening this field to production shouldn't even be considered until the Inquiry is over and its recommendations are fully implemented," said Kindleysides.

"The Inquiry must be given the time to ensure that our oceans are better protected from oil and gas development. The Montara oil spill exposes how woefully under-protected our oceans are. Less than 1% of the seas in western and northern Australia are protected. We expect the Inquiry to make concrete recommendations, including establishing marine sanctuaries as safe havens for our marine wildlife from offshore industry," Kindleysides concluded