Equinor’s environment plan to drill the Great Australian Bight has been signed off by the federal regulator

Equinor’s contentious plans to drill for oil and gas in the Great Australian Bight have taken a big step forward with a key environmental approval granted – a decision that has been both lauded and damned.

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Equinor’s controversial plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight have been given the tick by the nation’s oil and gas regulator, with the company now hoping to start drilling next Summer.

The Norwegian firm now has two of the four approvals necessary to drill for potentially billions of dollars worth of oil in The Bight, with the sign-off from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) a key milestone in the process.

The approval, granted yesterday, has been immediately lauded and damned, with Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan saying he hoped that an energy province to rival Bass Strait could be found.

But environmental groups have flagged that Equinor and the Federal Government should expect protests to escalate.

Drilling for oil in the Great Australian Bight is now a step closer.

Mr Canavan said he had full confidence in the regulator to provide strong oversight of the energy sector, and welcomed Equinor’s search for oil.

“The Great Australian Bight is relatively unexplored but considered to be highly prospective for petroleum resources, with potential to provide significant economic benefits and help strengthen our fuel security as a nation,’’ he said.

“Around twenty years ago we had 96 per cent of our petroleum produced domestically in a raw product form – now we can only meet about half of our petroleum needs from domestic sources of production.’’

Mr Canavan said a report from Acil Allen found that a discovery in The Bight – less than half the size of the Bass Straight – would create 1361 jobs in SA during construction and generate $1.7 billion in state and Commonwealth taxes every year.

“That means new business opportunities, new hospitals, new schools and new infrastructure for South Australia,’’ he said.

The company’s environment plan was first submitted in April this year, then resubmitted twice after NOPSEMA asked for changes and clarifications.

A public consultation process, which the company initiated despite not being required to under Australian law, attracted more than 30,000 submissions.

NOPSEMA said it had “imposed stringent conditions on its approval to ensure a high level of protection to the environment, in recognition of the region’s unique values and sensitivities’’.

“The rigorous assessment process undertaken by NOPSEMA took almost eight months and involved a range of specialists with considerable environmental, scientific and engineering experience,’’ there regulator said.

Equinor will now be required to produce a “facility safety case” focused on the management of the offshore drilling facility, and a “well management operations management plan”, which a NOPSEMA spokesman said while smaller than the environment plan, was nevertheless “highly complex subject matter’.

Both need to be signed off before drilling can start.

Equinor’s country manager for Australia, Jone Stangeland, said it was an “important milestone’’, and the company, which had held more than 400 meetings with about 200 organisations, would continue to engage with the community.

“Equinor has safely operated offshore drilling projects for more than 40 years in similar conditions around the world including the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea and the East Coast of Canada. This year alone, we have safely drilled 23 offshore exploration wells across our global portfolio, and the proposed Stromlo-1 well aligns with our proven capabilities and experience.’’

The Wilderness Society says protests against drilling in the Bight will only escalate now.

Drilling is expected to take 30-60 days, and must take place outside the months of June to September, due to the weather. Equinor has three years to drill, ending in 2022.

Greens SA Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the “decision was a “pre-Christmas horror show for South Australia” and a “disastrous decision for the fishing and tourism industries.

“South Australians have made it very clear that they don’t want drilling in the Great Australian Bight,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

“This decision will only be met with increased anger from the community and we will fight it all the way.”

Senator Hanson-Young said the decision could be reversed by the Parliament via a Private Members Bill she has already tabled in Canberra.

“This now means drilling in The Bight must be stopped in Canberra,” she said.

“Every single South Australian member of Parliament, regardless of what political party they are, need to stand up to protect the greatest Australian Bight.”

Wilderness Society South Australia director Peter Owen said he was “gobsmacked”.

“The Fight for The Bight is one of the biggest environmental protests Australia has seen, and this approval will only further mobilise community opposition. Australia’s biggest environmental protests, from the Franklin Dam to the Adani coal mine, have only escalated after approvals have been given.’’

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SA Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said the project had has the potential to create significant employment and economic opportunities for SA.

“Equinor is now required to obtain NOPSEMA approval for its well operations plan and a safety case for the drilling rig before any activity can proceed in the Great Australian Bight.

“The State Government expects and insists upon the highest environmental standards for exploration in the Bight.”