DECOMMISSIONING of offshore production facilities has roared into the spotlight in Australia following the debacle over the Northern Endeavour floating production, storage and offloading vessel. The Northern Endeavour fiasco resulted from the financial collapse of the previous owner, Northern Oil & Gas Australia (Noga), which left the federal government owner of the FPSO and associated infrastructure at the Laminaria and Corallina oilfields. In Australia's national budget unveiled last month, the government said it will introduce a levy on all offshore oil and gas production to help fund the decommissioning and remediation works at Laminaria-Corallina. The levy was not unexpected but the oil and gas industry was still taken aback that companies not involved in the project would now be footing the bill.
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