Greenhouse Gas Storage Bill 2008 (Qld)

Key Points

• The Queensland Government has established a tenure system for greenhouse gas storage and exploration for storage spaces.
• Mining and petroleum tenement holders should be wary of this added layer of complexity in their tenement rights.

The Greenhouse Gas Storage Bill, currently before the Queensland Parliament, creates a stand-alone legislative regime (as opposed to an amendment of the petroleum regime) which creates a new tenement framework for the storage of greenhouse gas in Queensland.

The Queensland Bill mirrors the current mining and petroleum tenement regime and creates both exploration and production tenements. However the Bill fails to offer certainty in respect of responsibility for long-term liability of storage sites. There is no set date for the State to take over responsibility for storage sites, which can occur on the discretionary approval by the Minister only. Furthermore, any common law liability associated with the storage site