Australia’s marine industries are worth more than $50 billion a year. Oil and gas is the largest single contributor to Australia’s marine economy (see report), with most major global companies represented. The oil and gas industry is heavily dependent on extraction of resources from the Northwest marine region (see report).
Western Australia and its adjacent offshore areas are divided into a series of blocks (titles), each five minutes of latitude by five minutes’ longitude in size. Oil and gas companies apply for permits to explore and extract oil and gas from these titles. The National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) is responsible for the day-to-day administration of petroleum and greenhouse gas titles in Commonwealth waters in Australia.
Extraction of oil and gas poses obvious risks to marine environments via potential hazardous spills. The interactive map below shows areas within the Oceanic Shoals CMR covered by petroleum titles and where these have been 'released' for exploration or extraction as of 2016.
How to use the map
