AUSTRALIAN OIL INDUSTRY TO CONTINUE TAX CAMPAIGN The council of the Australian Petroleum Exploration Association (APEA) said it will press on with its campaign for major improvements to Australia's petroleum taxation structure. The council said in a statement the industry was bitterly disappointed by the Australian government's position on taxation, as presented in a speech by Resources and Energy Minister Gareth Evans to the APEA conference. As earlier reported, Evans said he was inclined to target any tax changes rather than take a broad-based approach to secondary taxation of petroleum. APEA had expected the government to make positive responses to detailed industry submissions seeking the removal of existing secondary tax disincentives to exploration and development, the council said. It said it plans to reply in detail to issues raised by Evans, but its immediate concern was the decision to proceed with the current resource rental tax (RRT) legislation. Evans told the conference the government did not plan to accept industry pleas for changes in the legislation to allow deductibility of unsuccessful exploration expenditure. "The government's unwillingness to allow the deduction of unsuccessful exploration expenditure within the whole offshore area in which RRT applies negates any claim that the tax is profit based," the APEA council said. The government missed a major opportunity to persuade oil exploration companies that it had realistic answers to the industry's concerns, despite its recognition of the industry's problems, the council said. The industry has called for the end of all discriminatory secondary taxation of petroleum, citing them as major disincentives at a time of low oil prices.