Murray Meaton receives highest honours for decades of work in mining, oil and gas

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World Bank HQ Image credit: Flickr User: Ghost-Rider

Distinguished mining, oil and gas professional Murray Meaton — has been made a member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s birthday — honours list for his contribution to the industry in the last few decades.

World Bank HQ Image credit: Flickr User: Ghost-Rider
World Bank HQ
Image credit: Flickr User: Ghost-Rider

According to the article on ABC, Mr Murray Meaton is resources economist and a long-time director of the Australian Institute of Energy. He also represents and advises the World Bank on mining development regimes in Africa.

“These days Traditional Owners often welcome resources development on their land but they look for benefits for that development, and I try to provide advice on a package of benefits they can use in their negotiations with companies,” he said.

“Certainly the law favours the resource companies, the Traditional Owners do find they’re at a disadvantage in these negotiations, which is why people like me are there to help them. It is a difficult process, they do feel under some pressure (from companies) but I feel that with the information they now have available, and the access to people with expertise, that the negotiations are going much better than they were a few years ago.”

According to him, Africa desperately needed mining investment and he was helping them develop taxation and mining law. He said he was optimistic about the future of the mining, oil and gas industries in Australia but disappointed at the move towards floating technologies in oil and gas.

Adertisement

“We’ve always realised this is a high cost country and we have to be very careful about cost structures. We’ll have four or five large LNG projects (finalised) in the next few years but it looks like the (next wave of investment) will be offshore with floating technologies,” he said.

“I would like to see more onshore development but I don’t think we’re cost competitive. We will benefit yes but I’m disappointed, I don’t think we’ll have the local content or the domestic gas supply I’d like to see. So we won’t get the value added manufacturing that we might have got.”