The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) supports the decision made by the Minister for Resources and Energy, Gary Gray to normalise the conditions of the Browse retention leases.
As Minister Gray noted, his decision brought the Browse retention lease back into line with other Commonwealth leases.
“It is vital that project proponents have all development options available for assessment, prior to determining the viability of any individual project, Browse is no exception” said CME Chief Executive Reg Howard-Smith.
Individual companies and project partners are clearly in the best position to assess the development opportunities and commercial viability of their leases.
“Australia is currently a high cost operating environment and must remain internationally competitive in order to attract investment for large resource projects. Any loss of development options lessens Australia’s ability to compete with other energy rich countries,” said Mr Howard-Smith.
The future commercialisation of resources is an important contribution to the prosperity of Western Australia and the nation and contributes to ensuring the future energy needs for both export and domestic supply.