A WIN FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES!

We did it! We stopped TGS and Schlumberger from seismic blasting 7.7 million hectares of the Southern Ocean.

In mid 2022, TGS and SLB (formerly Schlumberger) announced their plans for seismic blasting of 7.7 million hectares of the Otway Basin. If approved, it would have been the largest seismic blasting project in world history. What followed was a rapid convergence of community groups and national environmental organisations, beginning a campaign to ensure TGS and SLB could not proceed with their seismic blasting project which would have caused mass devastation to the ocean, in search of fossil gas which is fuelling the climate crisis.

Over two years, communities held and participated in marches, rallies and paddle outs, as well as met with their MP’s, wrote letters, and even spoke face to face with TGS, voicing their complete opposition to the project. Representatives from different groups took a trip to Parliament House in Canberra to meet with MPs and raise concerns about the project.

In August 2023, the environmental plan received over 31,000 submissions for public comment to the regulator NOPSEMA, either opposing the project or seeking further information. This was the largest number of valid submissions to the regulator ever in Australia!

In March 2024, over 1200 people paddled out in Torquay, in opposition to the TGS seismic blasting project.

Throughout the first half of 2024, TGS endured numerour set backs to the application, with the environmental plan being sent back by the regulator multiple times, requesting changes and further information for the project. This led to the seismic blasting area being downscaled to 3.1 million hectares, less than half of the original 7.7 million hectares.

In late September, TGS sent an email to all relevant persons, notifying them that they had decided to withdraw their application for the project, due to 'competing global priorities'. We won! By coming together as a community, we successfully stopped multinational companies from going ahead with the largest seismic blasting project in world history.

Not only is this a direct win for our oceans, marine life, First Nations communities, the climate and everyone who was part of this campaign, it set's a precedent that communities do not want new offshore gas projects, or any new fossil fuel projects for that matter.

However, the fight isn't over. There are still multiple projects in the pipeline for seismic blasting and gas drilling, one of them being CGG's plans for seismic blasting right next to calving grounds for the endangered Southern Right Whale, off the coast of Warrnambool and Port Fairy.

Click here to take action against CGG's seismic blasting proposal.