WA | Decommissioning of Australia’s Offshore Assets

Tom Coolican has more than 20 years of operational experience in the oil and gas industry with time spent in the majors as well as specialised late-life asset companies.
Tom’s understanding of asset retirement obligation (ARO) is informed by the Asset Management roles he has held and has been involved in the hydrocarbon-free, disconnection and sailaway of a number of FPSOs.
Tom has also been involved in the Asset Retirement planning for some of Australia’s largest oil and gas developments in the Northwest Shelf and the Timor Sea.
As former President and co-Chair of Safer Together WA/NT Tom has a deep passion for the safe execution of decommissioning and understands the real issues that face the asset team through the execution phase.

Tom’s current role as Executive GM of Upstream Production Solutions gives the additional lens of pre-decommissioning services to his late life asset operational experience.

Tom holds a master’s degree in engineering (MMRE) from Monash University, and business (MBA) from UWA.

Dr Francis Norman is a highly experienced strategic leader.

Francis is NERA’s General Manager Decommissioning and Strategy, leading the Centre of Decommissioning Australia (CODA).

His current role is informed by over 40 years of experience in resource project engineering and business leadership. For the past five years, he has helped lead NERA’s work in supporting technology companies translate their ideas into business offerings for the energy sector, working with researchers, the service sector, producers and government to build relationships and grow the Australian economy.

A former WA division President for Engineers Australia, Francis holds a MSc in project management and a PhD in management.

Alasdair is the Late Life and Decommissioning Lead for APAC and is the focal point in the region for decommissioning at Xodus. Alasdair is a chartered engineer with the IMechE with over 15 years' experience in the design engineering of subsea pipelines and associated systems, subsea construction, CCUS and field decommissioning.
Alasdair has experience in assessing options and planning for large scale decommissioning scopes and has significant experience in regulatory requirements both in UKCS and Australia.
He has acted as lead engineer and project manager to multiple subsea, CCUS and decommissioning projects within Xodus and held a variety of secondment positions into operators over his career.

Hazel Brewer has 30 years’ experience advising a variety of clients on shipping, offshore, international trade and marine insurance matters and disputes.

Hazel advises extensively on a broad range of spot and long-term commodities sale contracts, charter parties, contracts of affreightment, transshipment contracts, bills of lading and carriage issues relating to LNG, petroleum products, iron ore, nickel, copper and other concentrates and other export commodities. She has also assisted in the resolution of numerous offshore industry contract negotiations and disputes under contracts for offshore drilling units, accommodation vessels and for other offshore support and services, including seismic, anchor handling, geotechnical, heavy-lift and project cargo shipments, pilotage and towage contracts. She also advises on regulatory issues (AMSA and NOPSEMA) and in relation to pollution incidents and environmental issues in Western Australia.

Hazel’s dispute resolution expertise includes court litigation and domestic and international arbitrations, including under ICC, LMAA, SIAC and SCMA rules.

Hazel regularly presents at maritime industry events.

Recognitions

- Named as a Leading Individual for Transport: Shipping in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022 and 2021.
- Recognised for Shipping in Australia in Chambers Asia Pacific 2022 and 2021.
- Listed as a Leading Admiralty, Shipping & Maritime Lawyer (Australia) in Doyle’s Guide 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.
- Recommended for Australia and New Zealand – Shipping in Who’s Who Legal 2021, noting, “Hazel Brewer is highlighted for her top-tier work on complex shipping disputes”.