Asia eyes Australia blueprint as $100bil oil, gas clean-up looms

Already, Exxon Mobil Corp and partner BHP Group pulled the sale of assets off southeastern Australia after a warning from government to be careful in choosing buyers. BHP last month agreed instead to merge its petroleum business with Australia's top independent gas producer Woodside Petroleum

MELBOURNE: Australia has passed legislation that could set a precedent for who pays to clean up the fossil fuel industry in Asia, making former owners of oil and gas fields responsible for the costs of dismantling facilities if later owners fail.

The new law provides a blueprint for governments tussling with the oil and gas industry over the removal of hundreds of obsolete energy facilities, particularly as the world moves to a lower-carbon economy.