The role of the regulatory framework in encouraging the sustainable extraction of petroleum resources in Australia and Norway

This article analyses the capacity of the current Australian petroleum regulatory framework to encourage sustainable socio-economic extraction of Australia’s offshore petroleum resources through a comparative analysis with the regulatory framework for Norway. Firstly it considers what sustainable development means within the context of non-renewable petroleum resources. After examining the petroleum resources and policies of Australia and Norway, this paper focuses on the legislative framework that regulates offshore petroleum and extraction. The analysis identifies a number of limitations of the current Australian legislative framework to encourage sustainable petroleum extraction.