Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Research Funding Models: An opportunity for coordinated, collaborative, industry based research

Abstract

Oil and gas research has traditionally been funded via uncoordinated, individual and collective research funding mechanisms. This situation may have led to duplication of research, a potential reduction in financial leveraging opportunities for research projects and inadvertent siloing of knowledge within individual organisations. A negative result of such uncoordinated research activity ,may be slow research progress and unfilled knowledge gaps for the oil and gas industry. This paper proposes that a more efficient industry research process and funding model is required. One that is built upon best practice principles drawn from other successful and sustainable industry research funding models. It also proposes that there is an opportunity for all Australian offshore oil and gas operators, government funding entities, small to medium enterprise and research organisations to collaborate to perform co-ordinated industry research within Australia. Via, increased industry collaboration and strategically targeting high impact industry research topics, there is an opportunity to achieve more complex research outcomes. The result should be an improvement in knowledge of industry issues that must be managed long term. The safe and efficient extraction and recovery of offshore oil and gas resources in Australia can be maximised for all stakeholders. This can be achieved by sharing research project risk, past domestic and international experience, industry knowledge, geological, seismic and environmental data and distribution of research outcomes to promote future applied and pure research activity. Ultimately, the benefits of an increased Australian industry research capability, via leveraging of industry and government funding, requires the inclusion of Australia’s world class research organisations and Universities as part of any industry research funding model initiative. To begin to address these issues, this paper investigates existing Industry Research Funding Models(IRFM) that may be provide an industry wide sustainable offshore oil and gas industry research mechanism. Such a mechanism, will in turn, provide a level of coordination and accelerated research that updates community knowledge, provides information to support informed regulation, develops a social licence to operate, and accelerates research and development commercialisation. As part of the methodology, the paper poses a research question, reviews domestic and international funding models, identifies of possible funding mechanisms, considers of regulations and legal frameworks in Australia, and importantly, assesses the need for a centralised industry research body to assist with the delivery of oil and gas industry based research, as has occurred elsewhere around the globe. An initial business case and implementation plan is also developed.