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Around 61,500 new operational jobs will be created in the mining sector by 2015, as well as tens of thousands more in the construction stages, according to estimates released in a report last week from the National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce.

The Taskforce, which was established last year, was tasked with consulting with industry to better understand the skills and employment numbers required for more than 75 advanced major resources projects, and some 286 less advanced projects – most slated to commence production in the period 2010 to 2020.

In a resource industry first, a number of mining projects in Queensland are about to launch a major on-line survey to determine the level of interest from trainees, semi-skilled, female and Indigenous participants, together with those already working in the industry for fly in, fly out opportunities from Brisbane.  

We happen to work in an industry that on the one hand experiences great challenges with the lack of experienced and skilled candidates available, but on the other hand attracts a significant volume of applicants interested in joining the sector and who have no experience. 

With a number of projects moving through the approvals process, you will begin to see increasing calls for ‘Expressions of Interest’.  In the past year alone, INPEX, Gindalbie Metals, Otway Gas Project and Xstrata have all advertised for Expressions of Interest, and currently, on The Resource Channel you will find opportunities to lodge an Expression of Interest for a wide range of professional/technical and blue collar roles for Santos’ Gladstone LNG Project.  

With many traditional oil and gas reserves drying up, the industry is looking at new, previously uneconomical fields and methods of extraction. Tight gas, sour gas, and coal seam gas projects have commenced, as well as stranded gas;  deposits of gas that whilst significant don’t warrant the construction of a large scale onshore LNG facility. Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) is becoming increasingly accepted as a realistic potential way of reaching and monetising these stranded reserves.

Malaysia is a country rich in natural resources including minerals, agriculture and, of course, petroleum. The Malaysian petroleum industry overtook the tin industry in the 1970’s as the country’s greatest resource. It was reported in 2008 that the country had proven oil reserves of 5.357 billion barrels and currently produces about 750,200 barrels of oil and 5 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

Whilst Liquefied Natural Gas production is the hot ticket for Western Australia, there is no doubting that Coal Seam Gas is the hot ticket for Queensland, with both sectors anticipated to create around 80,000 jobs in construction and operational jobs in the next five years.

On 25 March, Australia's oil and gas industry launched a new safety training program, initially for new employees working on offshore drilling and production sites.  The Common Safety Training Program (CSTP) is a major initiative of the APPEA CEO Safety Leadership Forum (an annual coming together of the industry's chief executives and managing directors to talk about safety and only about safety.

The National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce, chaired by the Hon. Gary Gray AO MP, Parliament Secretary for Western and Northern Australia, released its discussion paper in March and has been travelling across Australia holding a series of consultation forums. 

Inpex yesterday announced that they will not make a final investment decision on the $US20b Ichthys liquefied natural gas project this year as expected, and will also push back the original expected start-up.

A final investment decision was expected this year for construction of the project at Middle Arm Peninsula at Blaydin Point in Darwin Harbour and offshore Darwin. The first LNG shipment was scheduled for 2015 and the project was to generate more than 2,000 jobs during peak of the four year construction phase, with a full time workforce of around 300 during production.