Includes bibliographical references and index.

Licences -- Regulatory structures and regulators -- The companies -- Resource rent, value and stewardship -- Economic recovery and good oilfield practice -- Resource management policy -- Production sharing contracts -- Exploration -- Development -- Production -- Infrastructure -- The future of offshore petroleum resource management.

"This thought-provoking book examines how countries manage their offshore petroleum resources by comparing the different approaches to licensing and regulation taken by Australia, Norway and the UK. It is based on extensive research into their policies and management practices, including interviews with government regulators and companies. These countries all face similar challenges as their offshore petroleum basins mature which means smaller discoveries, marginal production and ageing infrastructure. John Chandler analyses how their petroleum policy, systems of regulation, and regulators developed up to the present, and how they are responding to these challenges, as well as how they deal with exploration, development, infrastructure sharing and production."