Petroleum regulatory reform and Code of Practice: Environment

In May 2025, the Approvals Fast Track Taskforce recommended 70 actions to simplify approval processes and remove barriers to investment. Three recommendations were focused on petroleum regulation:

• introduce a new Environmental Code of Practice (10F)
• amend the Petroleum (Environment) Regulations 2016 (10G)
• develop a published Chemical Risk Register (2I).

The Code of Practice: Environment (Environment Code) was approved and gazetted by the Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment in accordance with section 117AZV of the Petroleum Act 1984. Read the  Northern Territory Government Gazette S59 PDF (179.6 KB).

The Environment Code is supported by the amended Petroleum (Environment) Regulations 2016. A chemical risk register was developed to support efficient and transparent assessment of chemicals that have already undergone a chemical risk assessment.

Environment Code

The Environment Code must be considered and addressed in any environment management plan (EMP) submitted to the minister for assessment and approval, and it is applicable to all regulated activities conducted in relation to both conventional and unconventional petroleum exploration, appraisal, development and production.

Get the Environment Code from the Energy document library.

The previous code PDF (1.6 MB) can still be used until 29 July 2027.

Regulatory reform

The Petroleum (Environment) Regulations 2016 have been amended to remove duplication, improve clarity and enable administrative efficiencies.

What these changes mean:

• reducing EMPs by hundreds of pages by removing executive summaries, historic engagement records, and some unnecessary risk assessments, without compromising standards
• a new requirement for a forward-looking stakeholder engagement plan
• introducing supplementary management plans (SUPPs) to allow operational management plans to apply regionally across multiple EMPs for consistency and regulatory efficiency. Each SUPP will require independent certification and must be in place prior to commencement of activities
• introducing EMP forms to drive consistency between EMPs and make them easier to develop and assess
• clarifying that industry must comply with the Environment Code in preparation of an EMP and carrying out operations
• requiring human health risk assessments for chemicals used in production and appraisal activities, rather than for every EMP
• clarifying the process to vary Ministerial conditions attached to EMPs
• encouraging early reporting by allowing incident classifications to be revised as more information becomes available
• increasing penalties for non-compliance.

Get the Northern Territory Government Gazette S60 PDF (187.0 KB) and read the  Northern Territory Legislation.

Chemical Risk Register

The Chemical Risk Register is a searchable register of chemicals that have undergone a chemical risk assessment and been approved in an environment management plan for use in onshore petroleum activities in the Northern Territory.

The register applies to chemicals used in well drilling, well completion, well workover, hydraulic fracturing and related water treatment activities. It provides a central record of previously assessed chemicals, reducing duplication, improving transparency and allowing regulatory effort to focus on new or higher-risk chemicals.

The register will be supported by a framework that establishes a standardised approach for assessing chemicals proposed for use in onshore petroleum activities.

Get the Chemical Risk Register XLSX (245.4 KB)