A government report found operator PTTEP Australasia failed to observe "sensible" practice at the Montara field in the pristine Timor Sea off Australia's northern coast, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson told parliament.

A damaged well pumped thousands of barrels of oil into the sea for almost 10 weeks before it was capped, prompting conservatives to warn of an environmental catastrophe for the region's marine and bird life.

"The widespread and systematic shortcomings of PTTEP Australasia's procedures were a direct cause of the loss of well-control," Ferguson said.

"Well-control practices approved by the regulator would have been sufficient to prevent the loss of well-control, however PTTEP Australasia did not adhere to these practices or its own well-construction standards."

The report also criticised the Australian regulator which oversaw the project, saying its "minimalist approach" to its responsibilities gave it little chance of discovering the company's poor practices.

PTTEP Australasia, a unit of Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PCL, said it deeply regretted the spill and had since transformed its Australian drilling operations.

It said it had removed all supervisory and managerial drilling personnel associated with the incident from their positions and was embedding the highest standards of oil and field practice in all its operations.

PTTEP, which covered the cost of clean-up operations, is being pursued for compensation by Indonesia over the slick which environmentalists say grew to almost 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles).

Thousands of barrels of oil gushed into the sea from a damaged well after a blow out on the West Atlas rig on August 21, 2009 -- prompting the evacuation of workers.

Repeated efforts to contain the spill failed before it was finally plugged on November 3, after the rig burst into flames after one failed attempt, by pumping in heavy mud. No one was injured in the accident.

The leak more than 200 kilometres (124 miles) off the Kimberley coast was the worst Australia has seen from an offshore oil platform, although it was smaller than this year's spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The report recommended the government review the company's licence to operate the Montara oilfield and said it should show why its rights to operate in Australian territory should not be cancelled, as well as calling for a review of the Northern Territory Department of Resources.

Ferguson said the government would adopt another recommendation in the report -- to introduce a single, national offshore regulator for petroleum.

But he said it was impossible for Australia to "turn our backs" on the resource industry which is enjoying strong demand thanks to booming Asian demand for Australian resources, including for its offshore gas deposits.

"It is too important to Australia's economic and energy security," Ferguson said. "What we can do -- working together -- is make Australia's offshore safety regime the best and safest in the world."

Environmentalists said the government should learn from the incident.

"This report exposes the weakness of our federal system of offshore petroleum regulation, along with serious deficiencies in scientific monitoring," Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Chris Smyth said.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News