Last month the NSW Government announced a new regime for
regulating coal seam gas activities in NSW. Not all the details of
the NSW Gas Plan have been released, but the changes are big and
already proving controversial. We take a look at the Gas Plan's
key policies and developments.
CSG applications
All of the 16 pending licence applications (covering 60% of the
state) are being cancelled. Instead, the NSW Government will
release specific areas covering approximately 15% of the state for
CSG exploration and require operators to tender for petroleum
licences. Under this new framework, operators must submit a plan to
develop a licence area. If the operator fails to commit to these
proposed investments, it will risk losing its licence.
