Oil giant BP has detailed plans to drill in the Great Australian Bight within a commonwealth marine reserve.
As part of a re-submission to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), BP has pinpointed two areas - for which it holds permits - within the Great Australian Bight Commonwealth Marine Reserve.
"BP believes that the oil and gas industry and marine environments can safely exist together and regular offshore drilling activity around the coastline of Australia is evidence of this," it said in a statement on Saturday.
However the Wilderness Society says BP has tried to keep the locations of its planned exploration wells under the table.
"It's outrageous that BP has only finally quietly revealed where it plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight two years after being asked and after two failed applications to drill have been lodged," director Peter Owen said.
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BP first applied in 2015 to drill four exploration wells before resubmitting the plan earlier this year.
It will do so for a second time in August but only for two of the wells - which BP said were within a multiple-use zone covering commercial oil and gas activity.
It still hopes to start the project late this year.
