https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Explorer sues Victoria govt for A$2.7bn over fracking ban

7th December 2016

By: Esmarie Iannucci

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Australasia

  

Font size: - +

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Oil and gas explorer Lake Oil has launched a A$2.7-billion legal claim against the Victorian government, after the state government announced plans to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

“The unjust and unlawful actions of the Victorian government, and its proposed Bill to ban onshore exploration, have caused significant losses to the company and its 11 000 long-standing shareholders,” Lake Oil said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company is claiming A$92-million in damages for past expenditure and a further A$2.6-billion in lost future earnings.

In a writ, filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Lake Oil asserts that the actions of the Victorian Minister for Resources, in depriving the company of its opportunity to use its exploration permits, constitute a derogation from those granted permits.

“The derogation from grant claim is based upon a fundamental legal principal that a party, having given a thing with one hand, is not to take away the means of enjoying it with the other,” Lake Oil said.

The Victorian government in November introduced legislation to Parliament to permanently ban fracking in the state. If passed by Parliament, the Bill will permanently ban all onshore unconventional gas exploration and development, including fracking and coal seam gas, and will extend the moratorium on conventional onshore gas exploration and development to June 30, 2020.

Lake Oil told shareholders that the company was in discussion with parties regarding potential provision of funds specifically for the derogation from grant proceedings.

Edited by Mariaan Webb
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Willard
Willard

Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.128 0.187s - 156pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now