http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/e-timor-looks-at-deep-oil-drilling/story-e6frg6nf-1225896776583
E Timor looks at deep oil drilling Paul Cleary From: The Australian July 26, 2010 12:00AM EAST Timor is considering plans to drill for oil at depths of almost 2000m. The plans come despite the lessons of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, as Australia's pursuit of oil and gas in its waters becomes deeper and more dangerous. Although the US and Norway have suspended deepwater drilling, the industry in East Timor and Australia has shrugged off concerns and will continue to pursue ultra-deep exploration. Resources Minister Martin Ferguson plans to award another four deepwater permits this year -- two off the coast of South Australia and two off Western Australia -- despite the series of regulatory problems exposed by the Montara oil spill last year. The Montara spill in the Timor Sea last August spewed an unknown amount of oil for 10 weeks, possibly Australia's worst oil spill. Some permits to be awarded this year involve depths of 2000m or more, compared with the 1500m depth that the Deepwater Horizon was drilling when it blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, producing North America's worst environmental disaster. Mr Ferguson has failed to secure support from Western Australia for a national regulator and is still sitting on the Montara report, handed to him on June 18. The exhaustive inquiry heard that the Northern Territory department overseeing Montara failed to verify the company's claims about safety. Mr Ferguson declined to give a timeframe for releasing the report in comments to The Australian, saying he had to complete certain "due diligence processes".
