Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

From the Australia Resources Minister’s Press Conference on 4 February in Canberra (click for the full transcript):

I might also say that I was in the United States last week and these issues were clearly top of mind in my discussions in Washington (l didn’t know he was here and have seen no US coverage of these meetings.)

I reinforced my previous commitment to work closely with the United States in terms of the consideration of the outstanding recommendations of the Macondo report and our determination to put in place a single national regulator in Australia

Discussions were also held with the companies and the US administration about an international conference we will hold in Western Australia in August of this year, focusing on the recommendations of the Macondo and Montara reports. That conference will be highly technical in nature.

It will in my opinion be a very important regulatory conference because it’s about basically having a look at where we are, what national and international responses can be coordinated, any specifications that might have to be changed so that we get a uniform approach to industry practice and the nature of equipment used. (Is the Minister unaware of the Vancouver conference and the ongoing work among regulators?)

(On the report about the Varanus Island explosion) Firstly I’d love to get my hands on it because I want to fully assess it. But I can’t get access to it at the moment because the WA government has determined it would be inappropriate to release it because it may impinge on potential legal proceedings.